Friends With Benefits
by Gwynhafra86
Summary: For years, L-Elf had a plan to liberate Dorssia and rescue his beloved princess. Anyone or anything which got in the way of his plan was swiftly disposed of, and allies were pawns until their usefulness ended. Having a physical relationship with Tokishima Haruto was not part of his calculated schemes, nor was the birth of a silver-haired, blue-eyed child. HaruEru. MPREG
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Valvrave the Liberator or any of its characters. I just own my feels after watching the last episode.**

**Warning: Yaoi fic. MPREG. Slightly AU from canon. Heavily implied smut scenes.**

**Rating: M for implied smut and rape.**

**Pairing: Tokishima Haruto X L-Elf (Mikhail), L-Elf X Lieselotte. Tokishima Haruto X Shoko . One-sided Haruto X Saki.**

A/N: This is a fic born out of frustration from the last episode having tons of questions unanswered. I'll try to keep to canon as much as I can, but at some point the plot is going to deviate. Also, do take note that some chars who are supposed to die may not be dead.

**Friends With Benefits**

By: Gwynhafra86

Chapter 1

If L-Elf had to pinpoint the exact moment it started, he'd have to say that it all began the day Haruto came crawling out of the underground tunnels, all drained of Runes, and made a pact with him to only feed from him from that point onwards. L-Elf considered the proposition for only the briefest fraction of a second before he undid his collar, loosening it before pulling it aside, baring his neck to the other teenager. There was no request for permission past that point, merely an animalistic snarl from the possessed brunette as his only warning before the silver-haired teen felt the hot breath of a man against his neck, followed swiftly by sharp pain as teeth sank in, drawing blood as the flesh gave way. There was a glow and, just as L-Elf had guessed, the transfer of Runes was completed, restoring energy to the Valvrave units.

The first time Tokishima Haruto bit him on the neck like that, it had been completely against his calculations, and resulted in him getting his body possessed and shooting a friend as a result. This was the second time, and this round L-Elf was fully aware of what he was getting himself into by agreeing to such a pact. Haruto did not enter his body, a point of interest which L-Elf filed to the back of his mind for future reference. It seemed that bites did not necessarily lead to possession. His understanding of the Valvrave units was severely limited, and the only information the silver-haired teen knew at that point was that only students of the school could become pilots, but they had to give up their humanity first, and that Haruto was somehow heavily linked to Unit 01, being the person who had to collect Runes, or energy, for the creepy girl on the interface screen of the pilot guide program. Pino, if he recalled from his battle against his mentor, Cain.

L-Elf had no idea at that point, even with his prophetic-like abilities of prediction, just how big a mess their relationship would become in the future.

His role in Module 77 was clear. He was their strategist and their tactical advisor, being the only person in the whole school to know real combat (and who could remotely use a gun properly). Tokishima Haruto was his tool of sorts, a painfully naïve fool who had all that potential, all that power as a Valvrave pilot, but was so blind to reality that there were times L-Elf wanted to punch a wall if it wasn't for him being so tightly in control of his own actions. It didn't matter though. Haruto trusted him completely, and L-Elf was free to command him as he liked. The guy may be fairly stupid, but at least he was obedient. The only trade L-Elf had to do was offer him a bite occasionally (literally), and get his energy sucked out. It was a small price to pay, for his dream, for his beloved. For Lieselotte.

L-Elf kept tabs on everything that happened in the school. These students were modified to fight, even if they all acted silly and behaved like a complete bunch of teenagers…that they were. He may have gained some sort of peaceful truce with them, but he knew that it was all thanks to Tokishima Haruto and the equally halfsie-loving childhood friend of his, Sashinami Shouko. Haruto saw him as a comrade, seemingly finding that they shared the common ground of having an important girl to protect, with Haruto having Shouko, and L-Elf having the girl in the photo. Even with all the peace, it didn't change the fact that L-Elf was still a Dorssian soldier, an enemy, and a hostage/prisoner of war. He wanted to know more about the Valvraves, their pilots' limits and abilities, and the methods with which Runes could be transferred. He'd need all that knowledge to come up with a decent strategy to fight against Cain, whom he knew was definitely hiding something.

He knew about what happened between Haruto and Rukino Saki, having once put so much pressure on Pino that she finally showed a footage of it just to chase him out of Unit 01's cockpit. It was interesting, actually, that Haruto could lose his rational side once Pino took over his mind. L-Elf could only hope that she didn't do that when they were in the middle of a battle. L-Elf gave a laugh as he pondered over the irony of the timing, for the harmless looking, naïve idiot to be banging another girl when the girl he actually loved was giving her own heart in her speech.

L-Elf should have reserved that laughter though, for karma came to bite him in the arse. They shared the same dorm room, more for them to monitor each other, but also to make it easier when Haruto needed to feed. L-Elf would still be running some simulations through his mind when he'd hear Haruto give a gasp, then start groaning in some kind of agony to hold back the urge to bite. L-Elf would sigh, stop whatever he was doing and offer his neck. He usually lay down after the transfer, which was pretty draining considering it was to power up five whole units. Haruto, perhaps because of his kind JIOR-ian upbringing, would try to take some kind of responsibility for injuring him (even though he was the one who said that he'd feed on L-Elf, and _only_ L-Elf), and L-Elf would turn down the offer. That didn't stop him from offering after each time though.

Even with his intellect, L-Elf didn't see trouble coming. They have shared a room together, and he knew that Haruto was trusting and warmed up to people easily, even towards enemies like L-Elf himself. He was also an empathetic person, being emotionally attached to the people he trusted. L-Elf was under the impression that Haruto's only target was Shouko, and did not notice that apparently Haruto had some kind of growing attraction towards him. Then again, he was under the impression that Haruto was practicing some kind of abstinence, as he had never seen the guy try to read porn nor do whatever JIOR-ian teenage boys do during their spare time, and this coming from a person living with him and observing him daily.

There was a slightly different expression on Haruto's face when L-Elf offered his neck to him that day. He bit the silver-haired boy, and while draining his energy, ripped at his clothes too. Instantly alert, L-Elf went into combat mode and tried to shove the other teenager from him, hitting him square in the gut to try to knock him out. He did manage to wind Haruto a little, but he somehow couldn't muster enough energy in that punch. It did agitate a still possessed Haruto, who pounced on him and bit him again, draining his energy.

L-Elf's limbs were heavy, even as he gritted his teeth, holding back screams as Haruto tore into him, pushing against his insides. The silver-haired's breath came out in wheezes as the intruder in his body pulled out, only to push back in swiftly. The only other sounds in the room were those of Haruto's animalistic growls and the slapping of skin against skin. It was a pity L-Elf was not a person who lost consciousness easily, for he could have retreated into the darkness and spared himself a world of pain. He knew, from the wetness around his rear end, that he was bleeding. He would assess the damage later, once he regained his strength. Haruto gave a grunt, forced himself in deeper, then reached his release. The brunette then slumped, unconscious, against L-Elf's chest without bothering to pull out. Great.

It took about half an hour before L-Elf regained enough strength to push the deadweight off him. He gave a hiss of pain as he moved away from the other guy, making sure he was a short distance away before he gave himself the once-over. Yup, he was bleeding, and the damage seemed a little bad. He was not in favour of going to the medical wing though. It would be a little difficult to explain the situation to the students manning the place. He'd deal with this on his own. For now, he needed a bath first.

As he struggled to stand, he heard a soft groan from behind him. Alert, he whipped out his gun and pointed it right at his roommate, who was regaining consciousness. Tokishima Haruto looked at him blearily, seemingly confused over his surroundings and the situation he was in. Moments later, after he gaped at L-Elf for a full few minutes, he seemed to have understood what had happened, and the light returned to his eyes. Those blue eyes widened, and it was easy for L-Elf to recognize the emotion in them.

Horror. Full-blown horror.

The silver-haired didn't know what Haruto was horrified about, that he had raped again, or that this time apparently he just did a male. The brunette clutched at his own head and gasped. "L- L-Elf…I'm so sorry…I didn't mean to… this shouldn't happen…. I would never… I'm so sorry…"

L-Elf pondered his immediate options. He could, to appease his own anger, put a few bullets through Tokishima Haruto's head. The guy would come back anyway since he was an immortal. The gunshots would attract unnecessary attention though, so it was not a viable option. He could also beat the shit out of the useless bugger. It wasn't exactly a feasible option either, since he could barely walk, let alone move the lower half of his body properly. He made up his mind quickly as he turned away from Haruto after putting away the gun. "You will not bring up tonight again, Tokishima Haruto. Is that clear?"

"But…" Haruto didn't manage to finish his words as L-Elf took some clothes and headed to the bathroom, washing off all evidence of that night.

L-Elf had enough training to know how to prevent infections, even if he had never received injuries…there before. According to his calculations, the next Dorssian attack wouldn't happen in another week or so, and he took that time to heal. When he could walk straight again, the first place he made a beeline to was Unit 01. Pino was less than impressed when he stormed into her cockpit. Again.

"It's not my fault! Blame the ones who put me in here! I do get hungry and will require feeding!" Pino retorted in her own defense at seeing a seething L-Elf, whose fingers twitched inches away from his gun.

L-Elf's eyes narrowed. "To my knowledge, feeding requires Tokishima Haruto to bite a target individual of his choice, drawing in information particles…Runes for the Valvraves. As far as I also know, the only other person he pulled this kind of stunt on was Rukino Saki. Tokishima Haruto isn't the kind of person to force himself on anybody. He's too soft for that. Explain your effect on his behaviour." He really did pull his gun on her this time, not that it would do much except put holes in the interface screen.

Pino placed a hand to her chin. "I didn't affect him much. He's free to collect runes as he likes. It's just that when he goes into a starved state, when his energy is depleted, he reacts based on his instincts. For Rukino Saki's case, she's an attractive, sexually desirable young lady while he's all pent up because he can't confess to the girl he likes. As for your case…he likes you."

L-Elf's eyes narrowed at that. "I'm pretty sure as much of an idiot as he is, he can definitely tell apart males and females. No matter how pent up he gets, it doesn't explain him taking his lust out on me."

"I wonder about that…he does actually like you. Romantically." Pino giggled a little at that, seemingly browsing through whatever information she collected through Haruto's inhuman act the night before. She turned back to him. "Besides, he was worried about your body, since your runes are being depleted too. Apparently if it's drawn out through intercourse, the depletion process slows. Once runes run out, the affected person loses memories, but you make memories in a way during intercourse. He was probably trying to use that as a substitute from taking too much out of you."

L-Elf's eyes narrowed. "So this means that any future feeding may result in this again…" He concluded. He headed out of the cockpit, landing gracefully on his feet before moving back to the dorms.

Haruto looked like he was dying to say something to L-Elf when the latter returned to the dorms, though the Dorssian was busy running through his options. He knew that the Valvraves needed Tokishima Haruto to power them, and he needed the Valvraves' fighting strength in order for his longtime plan to succeed. Tokishima actually tried to abstain from taking in any energy the last time he attacked Rukino Saki, and this round, he looked like he might be doing something ridiculous, like try to send the Valvraves out underpowered. Based on his observation of the brunette's personality, there was no way Haruto would draw Runes from any of the JIOR-ians, his friends, and definitely not from Sashinami Shouko. He'd only draw it from L-Elf, the enemy. L-Elf gave a bitter laugh. On his own, he was quite powerless, and even if he had to make a pact with the devil, he'd do it. His fingers brushed lightly against the photo hidden in his pocket. No matter what, he would rescue _her _and bring _her_ to New JIOR with him. He had a country she could go to now, but before that day came, he'd bear with whatever humiliation he had to go through to realise that dream. _Lieselotte_.

Haruto flinched minutely when L-Elf finally looked up, pinning him with a deep stare. "Tokishima Haruto… I will still stand by the pact to allow you to feed from me… even if the energy had to be drawn out of me through the same way you did before."

"Wh-what?" Haruto asked numbly.

L-Elf narrowed his eyes. "I'm saying that I'm allowing you to have sex with me, but only for the sake of gathering runes. You are not allowed to touch me beyond that purpose."

Haruto obviously didn't like the sounds of that. He gaped at the silver-haired teen like he had lost his mind. "That…that's not what I want…"

"I will only make that offer once. You can find someone else to feed from if the idea is disagreeable with you." L-Elf spoke curtly.

Haruto looked like he was waging an internal war with himself. If what Pino said was right, however, L-Elf was pretty sure he knew which side would win. Surely enough, Haruto's eyes hardened. "Fine. I accept." L-Elf held out a hand, which Haruto took and shook, sealing the pact.

XXXXXXXXX

That was the start of a very odd arrangement between them. Haruto was his shield and his strength, while L-Elf coordinated battle strategies. Their priorities still lay with trying to gather allies (and preferably fighting forces) for the next major step in his battle plan, the infiltration of Dorssia. The former spy briefed everyone on their roles and tutored them in the art of simple combat should they ever fall into enemy hands.

As for Tokishima Haruto, L-Elf spent hours trying to figure out the extent of the brunette's supernatural abilities, or whatever he could do if he wasn't in a Valvrave. Haruto seemed to be rather like Cain in a way, so he figured that they were probably of a similar type. If only he could somehow figure out that mouth movement which allowed for the use of certain skills…

The training drained energy quickly, and L-Elf found himself acting as battery a lot more frequently. The experiences were almost as bad as the first, even if they weren't as painful. Haruto would get taken over by his beast-like side and lose all rational thought, with his only aim being to draw energy from L-Elf by pounding into him. There was no consideration whatsoever to his bed partner, who lay there, distracting himself by double checking simulations in his head. There was no pleasure to indulge from the experience on L-Elf's part, and he didn't want to waste his time mulling over it. The silver-haired teen did ejaculate from the experience, but it wasn't due to pleasure, but rather due to his body's release of hormones to cope with the stress and the pain his body went through. Once he recovered from his energy drain, L-Elf would slip out of bed, put something on and pass a whole load of instructions to Renboukouji Satomi, his only productive work during the whole intercourse. The guy was good at memorizing, and could act as his second in the event where they have to work separately.

At some point, however, L-Elf noticed the slightest bit of a difference. He wasn't too sure if it was evolution of Haruto's supernatural powers, or if it was progress, or simply willpower on the naïve idiot's behalf, but at some point the pilot managed to keep rational thought even when feeding. That, or Pino finally took pity on both of them and gave Haruto back some of his self-control. Haruto, or at least the rational him, was a lot more considerate of L-Elf, seemingly thanks to some kind of JIOR-ian upbringing in him. The brunette probably knew that L-Elf was using him as much as Haruto was using the silver-haired teen, one for his power, one for his unrequited feelings. That didn't stop him from wanting to make sure they both stood on equal footing in this pact. L-Elf was on the losing end so far, and Haruto tried to make up for it by trying to give him pleasure to make up for him having to be taken.

When Haruto first started to let his hands wander around L-Elf's body, the latter initially slapped him away and asked him to just get on with it as he usually did. That didn't stop the brunette though. L-Elf was finding it difficult to run simulations through his head as occasional spikes of pleasure did hit him. When Haruto hit a spot within him, sensations crawled up his spine, and he gave an involuntary moan. Haruto learnt from that and attacked the same spot, causing L-Elf to become less passive as he fisted the sheets, gritting his teeth to keep his sounds in. That was also the first time he found his release through actual pleasure and not through stress.

The arrangement between them seemed a lot more bearable past that point. L-Elf figured that since he couldn't escape from their "scheduled sex", he might as well try to get something from the experience. It seemed that the more he enjoyed it, the more energy he provided Haruto, who channeled it to Pino and got her all high and happy.

He was perfectly clear-headed over his stand in this relationship, but he couldn't say the same for Haruto. L-Elf wasn't the kind of person to get emotionally attached to someone just because he was sleeping with the person, but Haruto got more smitten the more times their bodies joined. Haruto made sure that he considered L-Elf's pleasure first over his own, made sure that L-Elf reached his release first before he achieved his own. The drain of energy would happen after that. One time, however, after they were both physically sated, L-Elf realised that he didn't feel the usual pull of his energy drawn out of him. With a surge of horror, he realised that Haruto had sex with him not for the purpose of feeding, but for the sake of actual intimacy.

L-Elf gave a glare and lashed out, punching the brunette to the floor. He clenched his fist. "I told you to keep this strictly for business only!" If it was just for the pact, then he could somewhat still live with it. Haruto was trying to make love to him, a feeling he did not return. He had long lost a conscience back during his training as a child agent, but he didn't want to risk it returning to bite him.

Haruto rubbed his cheek and looked up at him with wide, blue eyes, filled with so much sincerity that it only enhanced the ugliness in L-Elf's heart. "No, L-Elf. When we agreed to the pact, I want us both to be on equal grounds as comrades. You are not a tool, and I will not use you as one. You're important to me … I love you…"

_I do see you as my tool though…and I do not love you._

L-Elf gritted his teeth again. "Tokishima Haruto. Let me state this clearly for you. This act is merely the physical joining of our bodies for the sake of rune collection. You do your job, and I will do mine. I will not permit it going beyond that. This is not for discussion."

Haruto didn't look like he was going to give up the idea, but he didn't say anything to that. L-Elf closed his eyes. He just had to hang in there a bit longer. Just a little more, and he would be heading down to earth, to where Lieselotte was.

XXXXXXXXX

Leaving Module 77 on the Moon, which was a neutral zone, their descent to earth went according to plan. L-Elf took Haruto with him, of course. The latter would come in handy as an immortal shield the silver-haired could pull into the line of fire should there be the need to protect himself. He didn't expect Dorssia to be harvesting Runes, which he thought were a JIOR-ian discovery. He filed that information to the back of his mind as he called Renboukouji Satomi, trying to trick him into piloting Unit 01.

Haruto was angry, of course, stating that L-Elf didn't understand the pain of having memories and life sucked out of whoever piloted that machine. L-Elf retorted fiercely to that. "Then do you understand how it feels for me to be completely powerless?" _I have to sleep with the enemy to use the power of the Valvraves!_ "If only I could pilot a Valvrave…" His mind went to Lieselotte. Haruto saw it in his expression and went silent. They both did.

Haruto decided to fight for them both, despite L-Elf saying that he'd use him till he was all worn out. When they returned, L-Elf had a dream about the girl most important to him, and he woke with the strong longing to meet her again. He wasn't surprised to hear that Module 77 was under attack. Those students were naïve thinking that they were safe just because of them being on the Moon. The Moon had no way of defending itself against the Dorssian forces as it was.

They would use a missile to hit the phantom ship which was en route to Module 77. After meeting up with the royalists, L-Elf was about to head on to the next part of the plan when Kriemhild brought up his old name, Mikhail. He knew instantly that the member of the royal family helping them this round was definitely _her_, and without thinking, ran to her with the intentions of rescuing her. He had people shooting at him all the way there, missiles flying his direction, but that didn't stop him. His mind only chanted repeatedly. _Lieselotte…Lieselotte…_

The feeling running through him at the sight of her was indescribable through words. Walking up to her, he took her hands. "Let me take you away." He implored.

They were still beating a retreat to his meeting point with the others when he was interrupted by Q-Vier. Apparently Cain, that monster, read through his plans. He was still battling when a blast from Unit 01 broke a hole through the wall, and Haruto emerged from the robot, yelling for L-Elf to get in. L-Elf didn't, as he sent the princess with the pilot instead, concerned for her safety first.

He was in a battle of strategies against Cain after that, even as he made sure the rocket was launched. According to his calculations, it was also the end of the road for him, as he was all prepared to give up his life as long as he saved Lieselotte. As he watched the rocket soar, he allowed for a weak smile. "Get away, Lieselotte…" It was his win.

He didn't expect Tokishima Haruto to appear before him with Unit 01 though. No, it was more like he should have expected it, knowing Haruto's feelings for him and his stupidly sweet nature. He just had his mind so filled with rescuing Lieselotte that he didn't include that possibility, having entrusted her to Haruto. "Are you out of your mind?" He snapped at the brunette.

Haruto emerged from the machine. "I know how it feels to want to save someone!" The brunette's eyes glistened as he gazed at L-Elf. L-Elf stared back, then closed his eyes, allowing himself to be picked up by the other teen. Haruto placed him carefully in the cockpit before firing the engines, letting the robot soar again.

He thought he had finally achieved his goal. Lieselotte was safe with the other JIOR-ains. Why didn't he notice that the green light emitted near the damaged rocket was her…?

At hearing that she was not on board, his gut instincts made him turn around, just in time to see the person he loved most fall, lost to him forever. "LIESELOTTE!" His cry of despair echoed through the ship.

He fell into a catatonic state after that. Everyone seemed to be garbling gibberish around him, as none of their words was registering in his mind. At some point, he felt arms wrap around his body, but he wasn't too sure who it was. He was moved to one of the storerooms, where all the garbling became blissful silence, allowing him privacy to let his thoughts roam. The arms didn't leave his form for a long time, but when they finally did, he was truly alone.

Left alone in the chamber, he calculated possibility after possibility, running through the simulations to see what might have gone wrong. No matter what he did, however, the conclusion still led to darkness. He had no way of rescuing Lieselotte.

Despair eventually took him, and he lay there until the door opened again, and Tokishima Haruto poked his head in. "I want you to help us. You heard about the Council of…" he trailed off the minute the lights came on, and he saw what L-Elf had been doing for hours. He stood there quite stupidly for minutes, until L-Elf spoke up. "Get out. There is nothing you can do." When Haruto still didn't move, L-Elf gave a bitter laugh. "Or do you need a recharge? Fuck me then. Nothing matters to me anymore."

Haruto's eyes hardened as he pressed a button, and the door slid close behind him. He approached L-Elf, who remained lying on the ground motionlessly, looking completely submissive. He lifted L-Elf by the collar. "Don't belittle me like that, L-Elf! I told you that I will not treat you like a tool!" He said that, but he still removed L-Elf's clothes all the same. L-Elf gave a bitter smile and closed his eyes. He could only hope that Haruto got it over with quickly.

Haruto didn't initiate any form of intimacy with him. Instead, the pilot studied his injuries, made a sound of worry and went to fetch items to work on his wounds with. L-Elf remained limp as Haruto cleaned and bandaged his injuries, his mind kicking in occasionally to note the poor job the brunette had done. Haruto let him remain in a lying position once he was done, and he sat next to the silver-haired boy, offering him company but not saying a word to him. He eventually stood up after an hour. "L-Elf…I'll come again." L-Elf's eyes opened, watching him as he headed out, and the door slid close behind him.

Haruto did return occasionally, sometimes to talk to him (even though he got no response in return), and sometimes to force feed him and keep him alive. He also changed the bandages around L-Elf, improving each day as he seemed to have asked someone to teach him how to do them. He always left the chamber with a promise of, "I'll wait for you…L-Elf…"

The next time L-Elf was moved, it wasn't gentle, as he was roughly manhandled by a bunch of boys from the school. The enemy must have tricked them with an obvious lie the size of Dorssia that none of them was smart enough to pick up, and L-Elf was too weary to point out to them. Haruto was struggling and protesting fiercely. "No! He's got nothing to do with this!" The students had them confined in a pod and launched it off to the enemy. Haruto kept a firm hold on him as the enemy then attacked the ship which had Shouko in it.

Inuzuka had, at that moment, come to their rescue. At the cost of his shield, he protected the ship and tore the pod containing both L-Elf and Haruto out of enemy hands before engaging in battle with the enemy, though after he fired a last shot at the other robot, destroying it, his own robot was disabled, and he drifted off away from the pod. The pod crash landed in a crater, leaving both Haruto and L-Elf defenseless and being unable to contact anyone else.

Out of habit, L-Elf immediately assessed options and tried to find a way to establish communication. He gave up though, having no reason to live. Haruto didn't, as he continued looking around for something, anything which might increase their chances for survival. He found a signal flare, but unless they had some way of powering it, it was useless.

An altercation began as L-Elf's frustrations poured out of him, and he took it out on Haruto. He pointed out reality to his face, that his actions to protect the students were thankless since they antagonized him, that he would never be able to have a relationship with Sashinami Shouko because he killed her father. "I've hated you from the beginning!" _You're too naïve, too blind to reality_. "Half, my ass! You say the same thing as Lieselotte!"

It was then Haruto dropped the bomb about Lieselotte, that she wasn't human. That she was a Magius, a monster just like Haruto himself. The brunette didn't fight back as L-Elf rained blows on him, keeping at it until L-Elf's sharp mind eventually came to a conclusion that Haruto was telling the truth. He stopped hitting the brunette once he realised that the girl he loved was actually trying to create a haven to allow humans and Magius to co-exist. After that revelation, there was a glow, and L-Elf found himself facing Lieselotte. "There are still things that you can do."

"I cannot live my life with you, but I can inherit your dream." L-Elf told her. _I'll unite the Magius and humans_.

She chuckled. "You cannot die just yet, Mikhail. You have someone who treasures you."

The vision ended, just as there was an explosion of power from Haruto, causing L-Elf to get knocked away. L-Elf's eyes widened, realising that somehow, Tokishima Haruto had obtained a power similar to Cain's. With this power, they could get off this crater, and maybe he could even include more elaborate plans in future battles.

Haruto held his hand. "L-Elf…I realised that I still love everyone. I want to laugh with everyone. Also, I still do love you."

_A person who treasures me…huh…_ L-Elf had his resolution to live. "Let's make a world where man and your kind can live together." Together, they launched the flare, and shortly after that, Rukino Saki came to their rescue, picking both of them up in her cockpit.

They returned, but Shouko forbade them entry into the main ship, and they had to go to one of the smaller ones. L-Elf saw that coming. It was only natural that the rest of the students who knew nothing about the pilots or the Magius be so afraid of them. JIOR-ians were divided into two groups past that point, with the administrative team led by Shouko's ship, and the combatants in the other ship, which included the Valvrave pilots, the ex-JIOR soldier Kibukawa Takumi, some members of the Boys' Cultural Club, and a handful of other students who didn't go batshit at the idea of them being "monsters". They found Inuzuka there too. Apparently Yamada combed the whole area until he found the stranded Valvrave unit drifting about in space aimlessly, and took it back with him. The unit was all bashed up though, so Inuzuka was temporarily out of a job until his robot was fixed.

L-Elf thought that Haruto would be a lot more emotional over Shouko treating him that way, even if she was only doing her job as prime minister. He wasn't though, and L-Elf frowned, wondering if he was already losing his memories. Haruto went over to Shouko's side a lot less and instead hung out with L-Elf a lot more.

Speaking of which, it should almost be time for a recharge, yet Haruto didn't make any request for it. L-Elf figured that the brunette was giving him time to mourn for Lieselotte and was keeping his distance because of it. Rukino Saki informed them of how she managed to escape, and L-Elf's brows knitted ever so slightly when given the message that A-Drei and X-Eins would be joining their side. He'd whip up a plan immediately to have both of them over safely, but he needed Tokishima Haruto at full power. While he no longer had the purpose of sleeping with Haruto for Lieselotte's sake, he wouldn't mind continuing with the pact, as long as it could reach their common end goal.

Pino seemed pretty excited that day when L-Elf ran tests on Unit 01, as she pressed up to the screen. "You will create a place where Magius and humanity can coexist?" She chirped a question.

"Yes." L-Elf spoke calmly, even as he frowned, wondering if there was some way to prevent the Valvrave units from overheating too fast.

"Yay!" She flitted about. "I'll do everything I can to help!" L-Elf would rather she just did her part and power up the Valvraves.

He returned to his shared room with Haruto, blinking when he saw Inuzuka there. Haruto seemed to be holding some kind of conversation with him, but both stopped and stared at him the minute he entered the room. It didn't take someone of L-Elf's intellect to figure out that he was the topic of conversation. Inuzuka got off the bed he was seated on and winked. "Be sure you're honest this time, Haruto." He whispered before nodding a greeting to the silver-haired teen and leaving the room.

L-Elf turned back to his roommate once the door slid close. "What was that about?"

Haruto looked down at his hands, as if they fascinated him, and spoke quietly. "Inuzuka was… well… curious… about the nature of our relationship." He gave an embarrassed sounding cough. "He… uh… once heard us doing the transfer of Runes." In other words, Inuzuka heard them having sex.

"Hn." L-Elf loosened his collar, then began to unbutton his shirt. Haruto saw that and turned a beet shade of red. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"Sex. You haven't recharged at all since we've returned." L-Elf stated as a matter-of-factly. Haruto lunged forward and held his hands, stopping him.

"No. I do not want us to have this kind of relationship. This…business-like arrangement makes me sick." Haruto spoke with a pained expression on his face. "I know that asking us to be lovers is impossible, but still…"

L-Elf stared at him. Shouldn't he be the one with complaints instead, considering he was the reluctant bottom in the relationship? This naïve idiot sure was particular. Still, if this conversation was going to head anywhere, there was only one conclusion. L-Elf leaned over and, without much effort since he was the taller teen, pressed his lips to Haruto's. The brunette's eyes widened as all protests stopped. L-Elf stared back at him, calm violet meeting shocked, blue eyes. "I don't mind. Being your lover, that is."

He almost had his conscience returning at seeing the look of hope blossom in that blue gaze, as Haruto believed his words almost immediately. He would probably never love anyone else like he did to Lieselotte, and for now, he lived only to see her dream to the end, no matter the cost or sacrifice he had to make. He was grateful to Tokishima Haruto for his help, even if it was merely because their goals coincide. He made the offer of being Haruto's lover, when the most they could be were friends with benefits. Still, it was the most L-Elf could offer to thank Haruto for everything he had done so far.

He didn't know if Haruto was aware that L-Elf was treating him as Lieselotte's replacement. If he did, he didn't show it as he reached out, held L-Elf by the shoulders and pressed their lips together. "Thank you, L-Elf." Haruto breathed out. The conscience did stab. A little.

The intercourse this round was different from usual, as Haruto took a painstakingly long time to prepare him, seemingly treating him like glass even though L-Elf was many times stronger than him. He mused that it could be because of the change to their relationship, and merely went along with the flow. The sensations coursing through his body was a lot stronger this time too, as Haruto probed with his tongue, causing a shiver to run through L-Elf's body as teeth scraped lightly across sensitive spots around his chest and neck area. Haruto liked to bite a lot during sex, even when feeding, almost as if he couldn't decide which method to draw Runes out of L-Elf's body with. He didn't doubt that there will be marks over his pale skin the next day, and was glad that his uniform covered his whole form nicely.

Haruto looked down at him and smiled warmly, even as he reached out and touched L-Elf's face. "You're beautiful, L-Elf…" The silver-haired didn't resist when Haruto hooked one of his legs on a shoulder, and suppressed a moan when the brunette slid into him silkily. The brunette took great care to remember the angle L-Elf preferred, having done this with him so many times already. He started at a slow pace, gradually building up until the silver-haired beauty was writhing beneath him. It didn't take long for L-Elf to find his release, and Haruto to follow him shortly after.

The silver-haired lay there, breathing heavily as he closed his eyes. He had definitely allowed Haruto to cross a line there, as there was no drain to his runes. He allowed Haruto to be intimate with him.

L-Elf waited patiently for Haruto to pull out so that he could go clean himself up. To his surprise, he felt the other teen grow bigger within him. Startled, L-Elf tried to pull himself into a sitting position, and that was when he felt Haruto reach out with a hand, holding him in place. "L-Elf… I'm sorry, but… could we go for another round?" Without waiting for an answer, Haruto flipped the silver-haired teen onto his front, lifted his hips, and entered him again.

A strangled gasp was ripped out of the usually controlled Dorssian as he was caught off guard. While Haruto had been gentle earlier, he was being very passionate now, and L-Elf found himself unable to fight against the waves of pleasure rolling through his body. Was Haruto finally feeding, or was this still intercourse for intimacy? He lost all rational thought as he moaned repeatedly into the sheets, rapidly losing all his sense of control. The place where they joined felt hot, so feverishly hot. The heat spread to his lower abdominal region, and L-Elf found himself touching his stomach subconsciously. It wasn't an unbearable sort of heat though. It burnt, but it felt somewhat pleasant. He saw the flickering of green light, and knew that the rune transfer had begun. Strangely, instead of feeling runes being pulled out of him, he felt it flow _into_ him instead, flowing towards that strange warmth around his stomach. The sensation that accompanied it was pleasure so strong that L-Elf's vision turned white. "Ha-Haruto!" He cried out as he came violently into the sheets. L-Elf prided himself at being a person who did not lose consciousness easily, though this round he passed out as exhaustion took over. Even as darkness took him, Haruto continued moving, emptying his seed into the silver-haired teen's body.

**To be continued…**

A/N: Phew. This is one of the few fics I've written where the chars' relationship is very detached from romance and very cold and physical. This was kind of fun to write.

Be warned that there is MPREG in this fic. Do proceed on to the next chapter if you're fine with this kink.

**Please Read and Review. No Flames Please.**

**-Gwyn86**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Valvrave the Liberator or any of its characters. I just own my feels after watching the last episode.**

**Warning: Yaoi fic. MPREG. Slightly AU from canon. Heavily implied smut scenes.**

**Rating: T for this chapter**

**Pairing: Tokishima Haruto X L-Elf (Mikhail), Tokishima Haruto X Shoko, L-Elf X Lieselotte. One-sided Haruto X Saki.**

A/N: A big thanks to all readers and reviewers for reading this fic and for your reviews. They've made me happy~

**Yaruming**, I should be the one to thank you instead, for your review. Yeah there will be plenty of angst between these two, especially since I'm trying to keep L-Elf in character. Maybe a little too in character, which pretty much kills off romance from this fic. On the bright side, Haruto's fluffier than he is in canon, just to balance out L-Elf's lack of feels with his own. He's the one providing the HaruEru hints in the story. Pron?! Call it smut~ Pron strikes me as smex without plot, and I do take pride in my plot. :p . I didn't like how the anime killed off chars without much explanation, so I'm deviating from canon and expanding on chars with potential to play major roles as either allies or antagonists.

There will be mpreg in this chapter, so please do read on if this kink is agreeable with you.

To the story then…

**Friends With Benefits**

By: Gwynhafra86

Chapter 2

L-Elf filed the experience to the back of his mind for further reference. He had never allowed Tokishima Haruto a second helping during feeding so far, and he had never reached such a peak during intercourse before. As pleasant as the memory was, he wiped it out of his mind the minute he sat in his chair, going back to strategist mode. The Royalists would try to evacuate both A-Drei and X-Eins, who were both under lock and key for helping Rukino Saki to escape, but once they were launched off earth, even Kriemhild could not directly provide them support. The Valvraves had to move in and provide cover for them, leading them to the safety of their ship. They had to then retrieve A-Drei and X-Eins' battle units, which were hidden on another Dorssian Module.

The combat ship of JIOR moved out, while the administrative ship stayed behind, remaining under the protection of the neutrality of the moon. It was a battle between Cain and L-Elf, but thanks to the Royalists' secret intervention, the JIOR-ians were successful. They retrieved the units and the other two Dorssians, but again the passengers of the administrative ship freaked out, and Shouko could not let any of them on board. They ended up in the JIOR-ian combat ship, as well as a Dorssian warship they had conveniently "borrowed" during the retrieval of A-Drei and X-Eins' ships.

The first thing A-Drei did the minute he was on board their ship was to pull a gun out on L-Elf, an act the silver-haired strategist reciprocated. The Valvrave pilots tensed immediately, seemingly fully intending to do something, anything, should A-Drei start firing. A-Drei reached up with a free hand and pulled his hair aside, revealing the sightless left eye of his. "You were not the one who gave me this. Why didn't you say anything?"

"If I had, would you have believed me?" L-Elf replied calmly. Nearby, he could see Haruto fidget, seemingly remembering what he might have done while possessing L-Elf's body.

A-Drei closed his eyes. "I do not bear you any ill will. That being said, you are an enemy of the state. You have betrayed us."

"You will find your name on the list of deserters too, A-Drei. You too have left Dorssia to come here. They will see you as trying to ally yourselves with JIOR, their enemy." L-Elf remained absolutely calm, even though both he and A-Drei were still pointing guns at each other.

A-Drei stared at him, then lowered his gun. "That is true. My beloved homeland is gradually consumed in secret by monsters. I want you to assist in our mission, L-Elf."

"Mission objectives?" L-Elf requested calmly.

"The elimination of Captain Cain and all parties related to him."

L-Elf had to hide a smirk. Their interests aligned. With A-Drei and X-Eins, they could use a lot more battle formations, since the two were both highly skilled in combat and well-trained. "We'll discuss the details elsewhere. Come with me."

XXXXXX

"Priority lies with gathering allies and finding an actual home base we could dock our ships on. Supplies will run out eventually, and once that happens, even the Valvrave units will not do us much help." L-Elf concluded once he had relayed his plan to his longtime friend.

A-Drei had seemed all stoic when they were with the others, but now he stood, relaxed, by L-Elf's side. L-Elf was glad for it. He knew that A-Drei genuinely trusted and respected him, since they have both grown up together, and have survived countless battles together. Having A-Drei as an ally was like having a long-lost brother back with him. Of course, he was pretty sure sentiments were stronger on A-Drei's side, as he had long gone numb to most of the basic feelings, even towards friendship.

"As expected of you, L-Elf. This is a well thought out plan." The ex-royalty complimented.

"This is nothing. Cain is a monster, and we'll need every bit of resource we have against him. We have monsters on our side too, at our disposal."

"Tokishima Haruto…was it?" A-Drei's face twisted with distrust. "How sure are you to be able to command him?"

"You do not have to worry about that. I have a pact with Tokishima Haruto. I have full control over him." L-Elf pulled his collar aside, revealing the latest bite mark. "I allow him to draw energy from me in return for his absolute obedience."

A-Drei's brows knitted, seeing faded marks trailing down that neck, and to the upper part of L-Elf's collarbone. "That…looks like a lot of marks on you. I don't see how that makes him obedient."

L-Elf continued making adjustments to the plan before him. "I am his lover." He informed calmly.

A-Drei, unsurprisingly reacted with shock. "What?! But…he's a guy! No wait, more importantly, he's the enemy!"

"We have a common enemy, so he is no longer the enemy. Gender does not matter as long as our end goals align."

A-Drei went silent at that. Relationship among guys in the military was not something unheard of, as there were times the soldiers helped each other find relief during drawn-out missions. He just had a bit of difficulty picturing L-Elf in a physical relationship with anyone. "Do you love him?" A-Drei asked finally.

L-Elf seemed to ponder the question. "I do not hate him." He said finally.

A-Drei frowned. "That does not answer my question! I cannot imagine a person like you…a person with your pride submitting to anyone physically without any feelings involved…" He was cut off when L-Elf walked past him.

"Emotions are unnecessary in a plan. You just need to keep a cool head and stick to it. Tokishima Haruto has a different upbringing from us. Emotions are his strength. He loves me. I offer him what he wants. He will not betray me." L-Elf stated.

A-Drei gave a huff. "I feel a little sorry for that guy." The door slid open, and he nearly jumped at seeing that the person they were talking about was right at the door. Shit…did the JIOR-ian hear their conversation?

L-Elf didn't seem surprised. Then again, this was L-Elf he was talking about. He probably already knew that Haruto would be there. Haruto's expression seemed normal as he turned to them both. "It has been a while since you've boarded the ship. You must be hungry. Do come join us for lunch."

A-Drei could see what L-Elf meant when he said that Haruto was raised differently. Only a non-Karlstein graduate could form such quick rapport with strangers and enemies-turned-allies. L-Elf gave a nod of assent, then walked past Haruto and headed off to the dining area. A-Drei noticed how Haruto's gaze lingered on the silver-haired teen, and knew that the brunette had it quite bad for the former spy.

As confusing as everything was, A-Drei knew that it was all part of L-Elf's plan. He didn't have to understand it, didn't even have to like it, but he respected his decision all the same. Every minute detail others fail to see tend to also be part of the silver-haired's calculations…

…or at least…most of them were.

The already messed up relationship between Haruto and L-Elf went further south the day L-Elf fell sick.

Three weeks after A-Drei and X-Eins joined their forces, while everyone else was busy preparing for the next phase of the plan, which was to reveal the Magius' existence to the rest of the world, L-Elf began to show flu-like symptoms. Even by remaining absolutely still on his usual seat as their strategist, he felt dizzy. There were times his roommate, Haruto, would wake to hear him rushing out of bed and heading off to the bathroom before throwing up noisily. He could barely hold his food down anymore, and it didn't take long for the word to spread in both ships. Their tactical advisor was very sick.

It would be detrimental to their plan if the enemy got word of it though. It was a plan involving the three Dorssians infiltrating the enemy base, with L-Elf being the main attacker. If he couldn't cure his sickness before that, they may have to come up with a different plan.

L-Elf tried giving himself a checkup in the medical wing, though results for all tests for flu returned negative. It puzzled him to no end that he was only sick during certain hours of the day, and was fine for the rest. Also, he couldn't even stomach ham and eggs anymore, a dish he missed back in his Dorssian soldier days, and he thought he could enjoy again once A-Drei revealed that information to the JIOR-ians. His sickness did not hinder his abilities to create plans, but it might affect his performance if he were to head out to the battlefield in person.

He was still modifying his plan when there was a knock on the door, and moments later, Haruto poked his head in. "How are you feeling, L-Elf?" He asked, concerned.

The other teen did not look up as he continued with his work. "I'm still surviving." He replied flatly.

Haruto settled next to his bed, and, when it didn't seem like he was moving away anytime soon, L-Elf glanced over to find the brunette holding a steaming mug. "Ginger tea. I think it will help you feel better. I've asked Takahi-senpai and the others for help." He smiled.

L-Elf wasn't feeling particularly ill at that moment, but he accepted the drink anyway and took a sip. It did feel soothing, enough to quell his nausea and restore some of his appetite. Once he was done with the drink, he looked over to find Haruto holding out a plate of red bean jelly which he liked. "Here. I don't think you've really eaten much for dinner."

L-Elf gave a quiet word of thanks and took the food, eating it with some degree of gratefulness. Haruto got up and sat nearby. "Any changes?"

"We'll stick with the current mission plan. A-Drei, X-Eins and I will infiltrate the ceremony for the signing of the pact between ARUS and Dorssia. You will take the Valvraves to space and hold the enemy forces there. We will meet up again at 1400." L-Elf informed him calmly.

Haruto moved a little closer. "Why don't you use me instead? Let me take over your place. You're not well, L-Elf."

"You have close to zero chance of approaching the Fuhrer with your abilities." L-Elf informed without bothering to sugarcoat his underestimation of Haruto's intelligence. "My illness will not hinder this mission." He added. He'd make sure he had some of that tea before the mission.

Haruto sighed. "Suits yourself then." He headed up to his bunk bed and went silent. L-Elf presumed he was asleep and decided to call it a day too, switching off the lights. He would have a long battle ahead soon.

XXX

There were two separate attacks the day of the signing, which was another two weeks after L-Elf briefed them on their roles. As per the plan, the Valvraves attacked, luring most of the Dorssian forces into space and kept them busy there. The Royalists helped L-Elf and the other two to infiltrate the base, though there was still bloodshed all the way to the stage, where the Fuhrer was.

Akira hacked into the live transmission of the agreement signing event, just in time as L-Elf rushed onto stage, firing away at guards with deadly accuracy. He lashed out with a blade and slit the Fuhrer's throat, the sharp end of it slicing through skin easily. Holding the Fuhrer hostage, he wiped the blood off with his sleeve and removed his hand, letting the broadcast take in the monster's rapid regenerative ability and revealing the secret of the Council.

As he predicted, things didn't seem to go that easily for them, as shortly after, chaos ensued among the people, including the Dorssian and ARUS soldiers who were present and have witnessed it with their own eyes. A-Drei spoke to the crowd, trying to convince them to switch their allegiance away from the monsters. During that time, the Magius still held captive in L-Elf's hands remained scarily calm, even though there was still a blade pressed to his neck. "The Council of the Hundred and One is composed of the world's most influential people. How many incidents and accidents do you think we have arranged over the centuries?" His eyes narrowed. "I commend your effort for this, but the revelation of the Council will not do you much help."

L-Elf pressed the blade further into the Magius' neck, drawing blood. "Perhaps. But I can take your life first as a start."

The Fuhrer remained smirking, though at some point the smile slid off as he stiffened. "You are…!" To L-Elf's surprise, he reached backwards with a hand, almost as if he were trying to feel the teen up. L-Elf knocked him to the ground immediately, but that didn't stop the Fuhrer from staring at him. The Magius gave a loud bark of laughter. "Now this is definitely a turn of events…"

"What's so funny?" L-Elf demanded.

"You." A voice made him whip his gun over, pointing at the person speaking. Cain had, apparently, predicted that the Valvraves were only a distraction, and didn't leave the Fuhrer's side. At seeing his former mentor, the ex-spy tensed, his whole body ready to spring into action if combat should be necessary. Cain looked absolutely calm. "We Magius have a way of identifying each other through the pulsing of Runes in our bodies. These Runes resonate with us, allowing us to know each other's locations. You've been emitting the resonance of Runes for a while now… no…more accurately, the unborn in you was."

"What are you talking about?" L-Elf's eyes hardened. No. Cain was trying to make him lose his focus with trickery. He would not fall for it. He moved his finger to the trigger, though Cain glowed, used that strange mouth movement of his to chant something, and L-Elf felt a slight pulse, almost like a heartbeat, within his stomach. His eyes widened slightly, even as he clutched his stomach. Cain smirked at seeing a flash of confusion in the young man's eyes. "You fear us as monsters, but the child in your belly is the same as us. Pino's doing huh. She has always had a bit of a playful streak."

L-Elf's mind tried to process that information, and his gun remained pointing at his former mentor, but his finger froze at the trigger. "L-Elf!" A-Drei was quick to be by his side, even as he fired at Cain, who dodged out of the way, taking the Fuhrer with him.

"We'll retreat this once. You may have the upper hand for now, but not for long." Cain promised. L-Elf gave a snarl and got back to his feet, though that action brought about a wave of dizziness. "Cain!" He yelled, but the man was gone.

XXXXXX

They regrouped at the specified time. The plan was for the other three to escape in the Valvraves and head back to space, where the ship was. The minute Unit 01 landed, however, Haruto found himself facing a dead pissed L-Elf and two utterly confused friends of his.

"Cain will not pull such a trick at a time like this. Bringing in the factors of my symptoms and the timing, there is only one conclusion. Cain wasn't lying. That alien girl is dead." He growled as he stormed over to the cockpit, pulling out two guns as he went.

Haruto blinked. "Huh? Wait, what? What's going on?" He looked to A-Drei and X-Eins for explanation before running off to stop whatever L-Elf intended to do.

Pino had the decency to look frightened. "Haruto, stop him!" She yelped in fright. There was a slightly crazed gleam in the silver-haired teen's eyes. Any time now, he might even forcefully order Renboukouji Akira to get this whole system reformatted.

Haruto threw his arms around the other boy, pinning his guns to his sides. "Stop, L-Elf! What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm getting rid of a meddling insect." Was the calm reply.

Pino seemed a little offended by that. "You were the one who said that you wanted to unite the Magius and humans. How is that my fault then?"

"Not in this sense!" L-Elf snarled.

"Not in what sense?" Haruto asked. He really did not understand what was going on at all.

Pino turned to him and smiled proudly, as if she had just done something really good. "L-Elf is pregnant with your baby, a union between a Magius and a human. Well, an artificial Magius works just fine in this case."

Haruto was so shocked by the news that his grip on L-Elf's arms loosened. L-Elf spun around and, without saying a word, shot Haruto point blank between the eyes.

XXXXXX

The other pilots heard the whole conversation, since transmission among all Valvrave units were connected. They reached the ship to find L-Elf storming out of Unit 01, and a blood-covered but still very much alive Haruto trailing after him. "L-Elf! What do you think you're doing?" There was a completely lost expression on Haruto's face, as if he were wandering about half in a dream, but he chucked his own confusion to the back of his mind because priority went into stopping a bloodthirsty silver-haired Dorssian first.

"I'm going to fix the main problem. We'll then proceed with the next phase of the plan." L-Elf spoke coolly, as if he were just talking about flicking a bug off his shoulder.

"Fix…oh no! What do you think you're intending to do to the baby?" Haruto panicked. He yelled at everyone within range to stop the silver-haired teen by blocking his path, though L-Elf brandished his gun and they obediently gave way. Haruto wouldn't stop giving chase though, and no matter how many bullets L-Elf put into him, he wouldn't give up (and the damn guy just wouldn't die).

Desperate to stop him, Haruto resorted to the strangest measures, as L-Elf got bitten, possessed, and woke to find himself strapped down. He broke out of the bonds in moments. Apparently Haruto still hadn't learnt that there was nothing in JIOR which could hold him captive for long. Haruto repeated the same thing over and over though, trying repeatedly to keep him bound so that he couldn't carry out whatever he wanted to do to get rid of the child…the monster within him. He even threatened to possess L-Elf's body for months if it would stop him, and would only release his body when it was time for him to deliver the child.

The students alerted Kibukawa, who came over to see what the contention was between their strategist and their main Valvrave pilot. After shooing the pilots and the Dorssians into one of the rooms to avoid the other students' curious stares, he demanded an answer from them. The other pilots and the two Dorssians avoided his gaze and looked awkward. Haruto was the one who spoke up. "L-Elf is… uh… pregnant…"

"I am not. It seems, however, that I am the temporary carrier of a parasitic being." L-Elf corrected bitterly without batting an eyelid.

Haruto looked a little pained at his words. Kibukawa frowned, then adjusted his glasses and told the silver-haired boy. "Come with me." He led the way to the medical wing. L-Elf followed him, with Haruto, A-Drei, X-Eins and the Valvrave pilots trailing after him. The students whispered amongst themselves as they passed, and L-Elf did not doubt that rumours were going to spread. He clenched his fist minutely by his side. No matter what, he'd get rid of this thing in him.

Kibukawa was a former combat medic, and with him around, the medical wing did seem a lot more a place for healing as compared to if it were just the students being there, then it would have been mainly a place for gossip. L-Elf lay still, fixing his gaze to the ceiling as Kibukawa pulled his shirt up a little, exposing his abdominal area, and proceeded to apply some kind of gel on him. He didn't even flinch at the coolness of it, having been through worse back in the academy.

The rest of the teenagers watched on with bated breath as Kibukawa switched on a device before placing a hand-held probe to the skin, moving it around. When he stopped, he glanced at the screen and nodded slightly. "You're right. He is pregnant."

"Carrying. Or call me a host." L-Elf corrected immediately, even as the teenagers squinted at the screen.

"I don't see anything." Yamada was the first to speak up.

"I see only some kind of dark spot there. Is that it?" Inuzuka asked next.

The girls in the group seem to have a better idea of what to look for, as they stared. "That…looks even smaller than a bean…" Akira breathed out.

Saki crossed her arms under her ample breasts. "That doesn't even look human." She struck a nerve there, and L-Elf finally turned to look at the screen. He, like the other guys, didn't quite know what to look for, and to him, he only saw a dark spot, with a tiny little blotch in the middle of it.

Kibukawa gave a soft laugh. "There is no way it's going to look human yet. It's too early, and it's barely formed. This size…I'd say it's about…5 weeks, give or take?"

"5 weeks and 4 days." L-Elf sounded like he was giving a report when he said that. Everyone else in the room turned to him, then their minds began working backwards. Of course L-Elf would know when the child was conceived, since he was one half of the party involved in the making of it. According to the laws of biology, or whatever was left of it, he had to have sex first. The other person involved in the conception of the child was…

"Who's the father?" X-Eins, who had been stunned into silence so far, asked the golden question.

The pilots, who knew the answer, all froze on the spot. A-Drei, of course, had his suspicions, but didn't say anything. L-Elf didn't say anything either. He just whipped out a gun and shot Haruto again.

After the other pilots stopped panicking over Haruto, especially Saki, who was yelling at L-Elf for his actions, and after he crawled back up again, Kibukawa turned back to the screen (after confiscating all weapons from L-Elf). "Well, it's still early in its development, but this child already has a heartbeat. It's still weak for now though."

"Kibukawa Takumi. Please get ready to carry out an abortion procedure." L-Elf ordered calmly.

The others stiffened. "L-Elf…it can't be…" Inuzuka was the first to speak up.

Yamada seized him by the collar and dragged him off the table. "Huh?! Are you saying you want to abort this child? That thing's already got a heartbeat!"

"I'm not even sure if you have one. You don't even know how lucky you are to be carrying _his_ child!" Saki grumbled.

The Dorssians leapt to L-Elf's defense, pointing their guns at the pilots. Kibukawa sighed. He should have disarmed _all_ of them before letting them into the place. Haruto walked over and grabbed Yamada's hand, trying to loosen his grip from L-Elf's shirt. "Yamada, please stop. Think of L-Elf's condition right now!" He turned to the others. "Could you…just let me talk to him for a moment? Give us a moment of privacy."

Kibukawa ran his fingers through his hair, ruffling it a little in frustration. He turned to the teenagers. "You heard the guy. I think they need to talk this out first." He shooed everyone out of the medical wing and threw a glance behind him at the two before closing the door, leaving them alone.

There was a moment of awkward silence between the two. Haruto looked like he wanted to say something, but at the same time he didn't seem to know how to phrase it. L-Elf remained seated there with his arms folded before his chest.

"I am not changing my mind, Tokishima Haruto. You've naïve, so I'll say this plainly for you. We're in the middle of a war against the Council of Hundred and One. I have the responsibility of coming up with a plan against them, but in order to do so, I cannot allow myself to be tied down by anything. Pino may have thought that she was doing us a favour by implanting… this thing in me, but this is not part of my calculations. Anything that does not fit into the equations ought to get removed." He told the brunette coolly.

There was a look of pain on Haruto's face. "L-Elf…please reconsider this… this child is innocent. We…we do not know what role he or she may play in the future, but just… don't take that future from this child."

Violet eyes narrowed. "Again with your idealistic talk. Fine, I'll put it in your perspective then. Let's say that I allow this child to be born. What then? We'll pretend to become a happy family together, you as the father and I as its mother? Our relationship was formed purely out of mutual benefit. I may have agreed to become your lover, but I do not intend to go any further than that. Once our goals are reached, we have nothing binding us anymore." He placed a hand to his own stomach and dug his fingers into the skin, as if trying to claw at the unborn creature growing within him. "Innocent? This thing is not even human. Even innocent children get killed during the war, let alone monsters like these." _Even innocent children get trained to kill during the war_.

Haruto took his hand, and L-Elf resisted the urge to shrug him off. "I know of our pact, L-Elf. I also know that my feelings will always remain one-sided. It's also because I love you that I want this child to live, since it's a part of you." He was silent for a while. "If you let it live, I swear I'll do anything and everything you tell me to, even if you tell me to die. If you want to name our child after the woman you love, I won't even stop you."

L-Elf's eyes narrowed. "Do not bring her up!" He snapped in warning.

Haruto continued holding his hand tightly. "I've seen too many important people die around me… my friends… my loved ones… I do not want there to be anymore sacrifices, not even lives yet to be born. Please, L-Elf. Let this child live on in the stead of those who have passed on." At seeing that L-Elf's gaze remained unchanging, he gritted his teeth and tried again. "Take a gamble with me, L-Elf. This child may have abilities to turn the tide of war. We won't know what this child can do in the future, but if you end its life now, we will never know!"

L-Elf felt a pounding headache coming up. This…stupidly sweet, naïve idiot… what was the point of keeping a child in such a messed up relationship? If this were his child with Lieselotte, things would have been a lot more straightforward…

His mind went to his late beloved princess. She was so young, so beautiful, and dead before her time was supposed to be up. He couldn't even save the person he loved. How could he even care for those he didn't? Both the replacement for Lieselotte and the human-articifial Magius hybrid within him…

But he did promise her he'd create a place for the two to coexist…

There was a moment of conflict within him. He didn't want to carry anything within him. It was against his nature as a guy. Still, Haruto had a point. The child's future was unknown, and the child's abilities could give them some sort of advantage in the war. Also… the idea of being able to give a name that had never left his mind to this child tempted him. Turning back to Haruto, who was watching him with wide, imploring blue eyes, he closed his eyes briefly. "If I do keep this child, then what do you propose we do past this point? Or is it a JIOR-ian practice to have kids at 17?"

Haruto gazed at his stomach. "… I do not know…" That made L-Elf's eyes narrow, but before the silver-haired boy could say anything, Haruto turned back to him. "Let's take things one step at a time. With both of us together, everything will work out just fine."

The expression on Haruto's face was enough to put a major guilty conscience even on L-Elf's war-hardened heart. He gritted his teeth and turned away. "Very well. I will take a gamble on its possible abilities. However, only this once." He could only hope he didn't regret this.

XXX

The other students watched on curiously once L-Elf and Haruto stepped back into the mission room. L-Elf's expression did not speak of his decision, but there was a relaxed air around Haruto, so they roughly knew even though L-Elf didn't say anything.

Their strategist took his seat and looked back at the screen. "We'll proceed with the mission plan…"

**To be continued…**

A/N: And that's it for Chapter 2. Please do drop me a comment if I made mistakes in the chapter, or if there is any part of the plot which looks unclear.

In the meantime…

**Please Read and Review. No Flames Please.**

**-Gwyn86**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Valvrave the Liberator or any of its characters. I just own my feels after watching the last episode.**

**Warning: Yaoi fic. MPREG. Slightly AU from canon. Heavily implied smut scenes.**

**Rating: M for this chapter for implied smut**

**Pairing: Tokishima Haruto X L-Elf (Mikhail), Tokishima Haruto X Shoko, L-Elf X Lieselotte. One-sided Haruto X Saki.**

A/N: This is a fic born out of frustration from the last episode having tons of questions unanswered. I'll try to keep to canon as much as I can, but at some point the plot is going to deviate. Also, do take note that some chars who are supposed to die may not be dead.

There is an implied birth scene in this chapter. Do proceed if you are fine with this.

**closet yaoi fan**, thanks so much for pointing out the mistake I made there. How on earth did I type Q-Vier… *headdesk* L-Elf's character is seriously tough to write. As much as I want more HaruEru, I seriously can't picture him being a romantic type (except maybe with Lieselotte).

To the story then…

**Friends With Benefits**

By: Gwynhafra86

Chapter 3

The Council definitely had connections. There was a media blackout, and when all channels came back on, the Magius were gone, including the influential people whose bodies they have possessed. It was almost as if the war ended, and peace came to them all at once.

Through all the cheering, the Royalists came out of hiding and took back Dorssia, putting power back into the hands of the royal family. A-Drei's position as a prince was reinstated, and for a while, it did look like they have won the war.

L-Elf knew better though. He monitored the news, observing for any signs of abnormalities. He eventually concluded that the Magius didn't surrender. Rather, they have retreated to another base of theirs, most probably on another Dorssian Module. At the moment, the newly reformed Dorssian Empire didn't have resources to really track them all down, and he believed that with the revelation of the Magius' existence, humans who sympathized with them would try to shield them from the Royalists and provide them cover.

The people were initially so frightened by the idea of monsters that they wanted to do away with the Valvrave pilots and the students of the school, but L-Elf insisted fiercely on letting the two races coexist. He had an agreement with A-Drei to create an empire where Magius and humans could live together in peace, and the initial plan had been to have this empire in Jior, or at least the former Module 77.

Half of the students of the school would have none of it though. They weren't monsters. The pilots were the only ones who were monsters. They have seen Rukino Saki stabbed and resurrected live on broadcast, and Iori had personally shot Tokishima Haruto in the chest, and the guy came back to life too. Now that they have finally reached earth, a place where they could take back their normal lives again, they wanted to have nothing to do with the war. They just wanted to live as students again.

The decision was Shouko's to make, of course. The students wanted to get away from Tokishima Haruto and his sex buddy L-Elf, as well as their unborn freak of nature. When the news first spread to them about L-Elf's condition, the web went wild with the students' posts. "Tokishima Haruto, that monster, and the Dorssian traitor are having sex? Gross!" "Did you hear? The monster got him pregnant too!" "I don't think that child is human…" To name some of the posts. The female students thought that Haruto was scum for impregnating someone at that age, while the males were rightfully afraid of L-Elf and his condition.

Shouko was deeply hurt at knowing that her childhood friend and crush was in a relationship with someone else. Haruto probably still had feelings for her, and was probably just as hurt at seeing her betrayed expression. Still, too much had happened between them for them to really get together. She was the prime minister, he was a monster. He killed her father and slept with a person who belonged to the same country as those who had held her father captive. He kept the secret of the Valvraves from her, lied to her. Indeed, too much had happened.

L-Elf knew that Shouko wasn't so black-hearted a person as to spite Haruto because of what he did though. She had the nature of an angel, but she was put in a terrible spot because of her position as leader of New Jior. Whenever the students didn't like something, or when they wanted something their way, they'd take their grievances to her directly.

"Don't let Haruto aboard the ship! This is a ship for humans only!"

"Keep Tokishima Haruto away from us…and all the other pilots too…and L-Elf…!"

"I don't want to be in the same place as that pregnant man! It…it could be contagious!"

And of course, the line to top it all.

"You're the Prime Minister, aren't you, Sashinami?! Do something!"

Haruto didn't want his childhood friend to suffer, and so he made his decision. He would remain with L-Elf to see his plans through. He had made a promise with the Dorssian to form a country where both races could live together in peace, and he intended to see to that promise. Shouko and the students who were not involved in the battles so far could return to JIOR on Dyson Sphere, to their families. She obviously didn't want to go. Haruto didn't want her to go either. They still had their duties to perform though, and the offer was something the students wanted to hear. Under the protection of the Dorssian fleet, the JIOR-ians launched off, heading back to space.

XXXXXX

A-Drei arranged for the ones who stayed behind to be given places of lodging of their own in recognition of their contribution to the revolution of Dorssia. He singled out one particular territory of Dorssia and made it an independent state of its own, indirectly still part of Dorssia but having its own administrative system. He gave this state to L-Elf after making L-Elf Regent of the state, and it was here the silver-haired Dorssian stayed. The pilots wouldn't leave their leader, Haruto, and Haruto wouldn't leave L-Elf's side. Haruto had, unsurprisingly, been put in the same lodgings as the silver-haired tactician. A-Drei insisted that with the child in L-Elf's stomach being his doing, he should take responsibility and take care of both their welfares. It was an arrangement soft-hearted Haruto was only too happy to comply with. The pilots stayed in accommodations near to Haruto's and L-Elf's joint residence, just so that they could regroup easily should Cain's forces finally attack.

Without Cain or the Fuhrer, the chain of command went to A-Drei, with L-Elf as his tactical advisor. Haruto, bound by his word to L-Elf, promised the power of the Valvraves as an addition to the Dorssian forces. ARUS promised to lend their help too, though L-Elf didn't trust them. The President of ARUS was like a frog. He'd hop to whichever side he thought had the advantage.

It was a lax period for the armed forces, whose priority went into rebuilding the country, which was still a mess from the former militarian style government. L-Elf went to meet A-Drei to give his observations and his predictions as to when Cain's forces would strike again, but otherwise, his friend wanted to let him remain indoors as much as he could. L-Elf pointed out that the peace made A-Drei soft. Then again, the guy was supposed to be former royalty after all. A-Drei wanted L-Elf to stop being a soldier, and to act like the teenager he was and enjoy life for a change, at least until they needed his services again.

L-Elf wasn't one used to being protected or mollycoddled though. Even when put under house rest, he continued to run simulations in his head, as he lay on the couch, running through all the possible locations Cain's forces could be hiding in. A-Drei had to literally tell him to take a break before he overworked himself.

Haruto met up with Kriemhild and allowed himself to be subjected to tests, just so that they could figure out more about the Magius. He wasn't a pure-blooded Magius, but at least his genetic build was similar. L-Elf went with him to oversee things, and also to make sure no one freaked out and tried to kill the brunette by accident. Haruto did not get into the cockpit often, since there was no need for the Valvraves yet, but the tests did drain his Runes, and a few times he almost did start attacking people around him, if it weren't for L-Elf being around to give him a well-placed punch to the gut.

Haruto needed Runes though, and he still stubbornly refused to get it from anyone around him. He wouldn't get it from L-Elf too, afraid for the unborn's wellbeing if he did. L-Elf sighed, wondering if the pounding headache he had at that moment was due to Haruto or his brat. He had to figure something out fast before the idiot brunette dried out.

He figured that with the Council having sustained themselves for so many years, and no one noticing any of their family members dropping dead from Rune Exhaustion, they definitely had enough resources for Runes. He and Haruto once stumbled upon a Phantom ship for Rune extraction. If he could replicate the equipment for it, he could make sure that Haruto fed periodically to sustain himself.

He brought that proposal up to A-Drei, who discussed it with the other members of the royal family and also with the higher ups in the military. There was some debate as some people were irked by the idea of giving up their genetic information to the artificial magius, but eventually they managed to come up with a consensus that if everyone contributed a little, there probably wouldn't be side effects, as they could easily regenerate enough Runes before the next feeding. Magius did not reproduce, as they merely moved on to a new host once their human lifespan was almost up. With the exception of artificially created Magius, their numbers did not increase, and hence, on a planet filled with humans, Runes should be limitless.

With the problem of Haruto's feeding solved, technically speaking he and L-Elf didn't need to live together anymore, nor did they need to have a physical connection between their bodies. They still did though, for apparently their cohabitation was the first sign of unity between the two races, and more so with the hybrid child L-Elf carried within him. Other Magius started coming out of hiding and approaching them, moving to the independent state, Neo-Dorssia, and true to his words, L-Elf offered them sanctuary. Like Lieselotte, these Magius merely wanted peaceful coexistence, and while their numbers were small (as compared to the Magius who shared Cain's ideologies of being the better race), it was still a step to making the princess' dream come true.

Coming back to their life together, L-Elf neither liked nor disliked having Haruto around him. To put it simply, it was an arrangement for his own convenience, as it was good having someone else take care of him when he was feeling too ill most of the time to move. During the first four months, his body liked the idea of being a carrier as much as his mind did, and he was constantly sick. His mind wasn't affected, as his plans were still as thoroughly mapped out as usual, but he couldn't actually be at the headquarters often. He insisted to anyone who came across him that he wasn't pregnant, and that he was only a temporary carrier. No one would take him seriously though, since his symptoms all pointed to that of a pregnant woman's. With his constant nausea, or morning sickness, he threw up whatever chibi Haruto did not agree with. When he was outdoors, he remained a picture of health, giving people around him the idea that being a carrier was easy. It wasn't. He was just trained from young to never reveal his own discomfort or any signs of ailing. It was a weakness the enemies could take advantage of. The only person who could actually see L-Elf in his vulnerable state was the unborn's sire, but that was mainly because L-Elf was pretty confident he could take the brunette down easily even if he decided to try anything funny in his weakened state.

During that same period too, Haruto was finally going through the stages of panic as a young father-to-be at 17. When he first stopped L-Elf, he was probably driven by his noble JIOR-ian upbringing and moral textbooks stating that it was wrong to get rid of an unborn bundle of cells forcefully implanted into the stomach cavity of an unwilling host, and being the stubborn, emotional guy he was, he had his one-track mind focused on making sure L-Elf kept the parasite. After the fourth month, however, he took a peek when L-Elf was changing, noticed that the Dorssian was starting to show, and paled, as the reality he was denying so badly came crashing down on his thick skull. L-Elf raised his eyebrows slightly, looking at a wide-eyed Haruto who was cradling his own head in his hands, as if only just realising what the meaning of _pregnancy_ was. Most fathers-to-be would have had an instant positive or negative reaction to the idea of a pregnant partner at the moment the news was given, but it took Tokishima Haruto four freaking months to actually have a reaction. L-Elf had always known that the JIOR-ian was slow, but even this exceeded his calculations.

L-Elf had, ever since he accepted the deal to keep the parasite, lived his life as usual. He didn't avoid variables. He just wrote new plans to include them, along with a few contingency plans in case things didn't work out as expected. Going into denial was Tokishima Haruto's job, and he refused to head down that path.

Every time Haruto looked at him, L-Elf could see his nerves written all over his expression. He couldn't decide which thought was running in Tokishima Haruto's mind though whenever the brunette looked at him. It was either _'Oh kami! I'm going to be a father! I'm too young to be a father!' _or _'Oh kami! __**L-Elf**__ is the one carrying my child! Oh shit, I'm dead… I'm too young to die… even though I can't die!'_

Most likely both.

There were times L-Elf, taking to his usual habit as a former spy, snuck up on Haruto to monitor his movements. Haruto, in his panicked state, ended up visiting friends and requesting for their advice, mainly on how to be a parent and how to pacify L-Elf so that he wouldn't be killed. The latter wasn't necessary, actually. L-Elf wouldn't kill such a usable asset. His fellow pilots noticed his distress and tried their best to comfort him in some way. None of them noticed L-Elf eavesdropping on their conversations despite his current condition. L-Elf smirked. These were definitely just a bunch of teenagers. Enemy Detection - Proficiency Level F.

Yamada told Haruto to be a man and take responsibility over his _wife_. L-Elf had cocked his gun and debated shooting Unit-03's pilot for that statement, but decided that it wasn't worth it since all the pilots wouldn't die anyway, and that he should save that bullet for a rainy day.

Rukino Saki looked at him like he had grown an extra head, thinking that he must be crazy asking for childcare advice from a lady he almost married but didn't. "Are you an idiot? If you get someone pregnant, you should take responsibility over it!" Of course, Haruto was too dense to notice that she was looking longingly at him, wishing that she were the one pregnant with his child instead.

When he talked to Akira about it, the poor pilot of Unit-06 just froze up. She wasn't even good at dealing with normal human to human interactions, and now asking her for advice for such a complicated matter was like asking her to crop her hair short. She ending up fleeing, and it was her brother who came to represent her instead.

"Listen up, Tokishima! The most important thing is that you read up and get yourself all prepared for fatherhood. You have to consider preparing enough money for milk powder, and diapers and…" Renboukouji Satomi might be a little too thorough in terms of planning, as he went on and on, talking all the way up to planning for the child's college fees. Haruto went paler still. He didn't even manage to graduate from high school as it was. The invasion of Dorssia forced an early graduation from the school, minus any sort of certificate or complete education. Forget getting a job and saving up for the kid to go to college. He couldn't even afford a pacifier at this rate.

Inuzuka was the only person who said something different to Haruto. The guy was a romantic, and of course, his advice too was more geared to relationships. "Hey, Haruto. You love L-Elf, don't you?"

Haruto spluttered at that, and Inuzuka chuckled. "You know, I was thinking. You're being all worked up about whether you will make a good father, but how is he taking it? I mean, he's the one carrying the child right?"

L-Elf sighed inwardly and decided he had heard enough when they started to speculate all sorts of feelings L-Elf might be having during this "pregnancy" of his. These JIOR-ians seriously had no reservations when it came to saying something embarrassing. Heading back, he drained a glass of water and lay down, trying to quell the distaste lingering in his mouth from hearing too much excessive sweetness from the conversation. He used to be able to keep his energy up even after long, taxing missions of stalking someone, but somehow carrying the parasite made him more tired than usual. His eyelids felt heavy, and before he realised it, he drifted into a light, uneasy sleep on the couch.

He stirred about an hour later, when he felt somebody caressing his hair, pushing his bangs out of his face. He would have reached for the blade hidden under the cushion, but from that breathing pattern, he knew it was just Tokishima Haruto. There was no longer any trace of panic in the brunette's breathing, and he wondered what Inuzuka might have said to finally settle the other teen's thoughts. This brunette pawn-cum-lover of his was seriously unpredictable.

Haruto was under the impression he was still asleep, and continued caressing his hair, then his face. If he had known L-Elf was awake, and if he valued his fingers, he wouldn't have done this otherwise. L-Elf didn't shake him off simply because the fingers were keeping his headache away, for some reason. "L-Elf…" Haruto spoke softly, his tone indicating that he wasn't expecting any sort of response from the silver-haired Dorssian. "I'm sorry for my behavior these past few days. You're the one suffering most from this, and I…I was only thinking about myself…"

Heh. There was no way Haruto would have the balls to say the same kind of apology to L-Elf's face when he was awake.

Haruto continued, not noticing purple eyes which were open, even if only slightly. "I swear I'll never leave you to deal with this alone again… I may not be as strong as you are, but I want to help in some way, and I want to raise this child with you."

Okay, it was a little difficult feigning sleep and remaining absolutely still now, even if L-Elf was curious to hear what other kind of naïve promise the JIOR-ian would make next. The lines were much too sweet, a flavour which he disliked, so much so that they were making L-Elf sick. Haruto took his hand. "I love you." He breathed out before kissing it.

Nausea rolled in his stomach. Screw sleep… he needed a trip to the toilet… L-Elf leapt off the couch and dashed to the nearest porcelain bowl before throwing up. Haruto did seem to be keeping his promise of not leaving him alone, as he followed him there and rubbed his back. He was lucky L-Elf didn't have a gun anywhere near him.

XXX

The JIOR-ians who actually remained in Dorssia, and both A-Drei and X-Eins, checked up on him constantly. The girls, like Takahi and Rukino Saki, actually went out of their way to try to find remedies for him. It was probably a girl-thing to sympathize with someone in his situation. Haruto was eager, but about as useful as a flapping turkey if it hadn't been for the girls actually pulling him aside and giving him a long lecture on how to care for L-Elf. The boys could offer the brunette their full-hearted support as fellow bros, but otherwise weren't of much help either in terms of knowing pre-natal care for one's pregnant partner. L-Elf couldn't blame any of them. It wasn't an age people made plans to be parents at.

Haruto did treasure him a lot during the whole period of him being a carrier. L-Elf still had dreams constantly of Lieselotte, and in his dreams, he promised that he'd let her live again by naming his child after her. She'd giggle but not say anything as she shook her head. She probably still thought him to be very young and silly, but he actually meant what he said. When he woke, all softness of Lieselotte's features would fade away, and instead what greeted his eyes were the sleeping features of an idiot brunette, him and the hard contours of a masculine body.

He meant it when he told A-Drei that he didn't hate Tokishima Haruto. On the contrary, his affections towards Lieselotte were slowly, but surely channeling towards the brunette, her replacement. He wasn't too sure if he could say with confidence that the feelings Haruto had towards him were mutual, but with all the kindness shown to him, and with there being peace in the country for him to fully appreciate it, he was getting somewhat attached to the Valvrave pilot. Haruto seemed to notice that, and the pilot was delighted. Once L-Elf found a better compromise in their relationship, his morning sickness stopped, and he started gaining more weight. With him not feeling sick anymore, the hormones took over, and Haruto was only more than happy to help him work them off. Haruto had a tendency to study him, probably taking note of the changes to his body as time went by. Even when they were joined, instead of touching L-Elf's chest or his crotch as he usually did, his attention seemed to be more focused around L-Elf's abdominal area. It was a little frustrating sometimes when Haruto would stop halfway, then run his fingers lightly over the firm bump which held their child. There was always a sparkle in the other boy's blue gaze as he smiled gratefully to L-Elf for allowing the child to grow. "You're so beautiful." He murmured.

The compliment was somewhat lost on L-Elf, who had more pressing needs to be settled. He gave Haruto a slightly flushed stare and a firm order. "Move, Tokishima Haruto."

The whole process of being a carrier went rather smooth sailing past that point. Even in Dorssia, people were torn between looking at him with fascination or disgust. His friends, A-Drei and X-Eins, watched over him with stoic concern. The JIOR-ians who stayed in Dorssia paid him frequent visits to see how he was doing. He was right when he concluded that JIOR-ians built rapport very quickly, or at least the ones who have actually gone to the battle zone with him, and treated him like a longtime friend of theirs simply because he did help to save them. Inuzuka and Saki were common visitors at his residence, with Inuzuka always hinting to L-Elf just how much Haruto really did treasure him, and that he ought to return the affections. Saki was there mainly for Haruto, who was completely oblivious to her affections. She would throw longing glances at L-Elf's growing belly, as if wishing that they could trade places. If L-Elf had the ability to do so, he'd gladly take up that offer. It was a pity he couldn't.

When L-Elf went for checkups to make sure that everything was in order, Haruto would follow him. The latest ultrasound showed something that finally looked less like a jelly bean and more like a human fetus. Haruto watched the screen in fascination as the medic explained that the child was fully formed and healthy, and that both mother and child were doing fine. Carrier, as L-Elf was quick to correct the healer.

The peaceful days continued, and L-Elf could say that, probably for the first time in his life, if he excluded the barely-an-hour he actually managed to spend in Lieselotte's presence, he was truly happy. Haruto loved him, his friends took care of him, and he slowly began rebuilding his relationships with everyone, increasing the number of people who were important to him. As he looked at Haruto's smiling face, watching the hand stretched out to him, he finally returned a tentative smile and took the offered hand. For once, he felt like he was in love again.

Then he had to do a reality check the day one of their radars picked up the signature of what was unmistakably a Phantom Ship. The minute L-Elf received the call, he knew that it was time for war again, as he slid into his Dorssian military outfit, checked on his combat boots before moving out. Haruto was with him when he dressed, with his eyes lingering around the pale column of L-Elf's neck before it was hidden beneath the collar of his uniform. The other teen was already in his red pilot outfit. "L-Elf…" The brunette began, seemingly making a move to put one hand on his shoulder, but the silver-haired teen cut him off.

"Move out, Tokishima Haruto. We do not have any time to waste." He ordered.

Haruto let his hand fall to his side and nodded. "Very well. Be careful, L-Elf." It was an unnecessary reminder, for Haruto obviously needed it more than L-Elf did. The tactician felt his partner's gaze on him for a while before the latter went off to rally the other pilots.

The minute L-Elf entered HQ, other soldiers saluted as he passed. Every single personnel around this particular section of HQ was picked by A-Drei through a stringent selection process, making sure that everyone understood L-Elf's condition, and anyone who showed L-Elf even the slightest hint of disrespect at seeing his current state would be punished with death. Showing their tactician respect wasn't a difficult task, for even while heavily carrying, L-Elf did not lose his elegance, especially when he donned his military uniform. The silver-haired Dorssian went straight to A-Drei, who gave him the once-over and moved aside to make space for him, so that he could have a clear view of their report so far. "I apologise having to call you out at a time like this, especially since you're already around your seventh month."

"Not a problem. I will not be heading out personally anyway." L-Elf was quiet for a moment as he took in the reports before him. After confirming his initial suspicions, he went back to his seat. "The enemy ship is en route to a Rune Extraction site. With that speed and that attempt at being stealth, it was supposed to reach its rendezvous point while avoiding our detection. At being revealed on our radar, it made a sharp detour from point B-0156 to C-1302, which indicates that the pilot is aware of a mistake being made, and is trying to rectify the situation. A human error. Our opponent is human, one of the Magius sympathizers." He looked towards the screen. "At 0900, the Phantom Ship will be in the middle of Rune extraction, and for that whole duration it will be vulnerable. Fleet One will move in to prepare for combat and for rescue of those held captive at the Magius base."

"There is no way the enemy will leave that Ship of theirs unprotected." A-Drei spoke up.

L-Elf nodded. "Of course not. That is why the Valvraves will be put to the task of protecting Fleet One. I daresay they may be facing humanoid machines this round." With that, L-Elf propped an elbow on the armrest and rested his head on his hand. Planning it from the ground was the easy part of the job. When it came to actual combat, he'd need to reserve his energy in case anything went wrong.

At the specified time, the plan was put into motion as all units moved out, while those remaining in base watched the battle projected on screen. Kriemhild personally led Fleet One, aided by X-Eins. The Phantom Ship would remain docked during the whole extraction period, but they had, at most, two hours to carry out the mission.

Kriemhild gave them an update as they moved in, and surely enough, they detected multiple enemy signatures on radar when they got closer to the Phantom Ships. The Valvraves moved out, and the screen became a blur of colours as all five zipped about, taking out the enemy.

Unit 01, Unit 03 and Unit 04 had the duty of dealing with the enemy forces in direct combat, while Unit 05 had the duty of providing cover for Unit 06, leading the last unit to the Phantom Ship for the purpose of hacking it - both disabling the ship and stopping the extraction process.

They were successful so far, so much so that once the Phantom Ship was stranded, the fleet landed and carried out the rest of the mission by foot instead. L-Elf remained a picture of calmness as he watched on, already having calculated casualties on their side. He could almost see it in his mind, X-Eins' unit moving in and engaging in combat.

A beep alerted them to yet another enemy signature, this time approaching from space, probably sent from the Magius' hideout. When projected on screen, everyone blinked at seeing that the enemy robot had a Valvrave-like build. L-Elf gave a soft exhale at that. It was all within his predictions, and the enemy unit's emergence was at exactly the coordinates he had briefed the pilots on beforehand. Accordingly, the person who would engage this particular unit in combat would be…

His fingers twitched ever so slightly, but otherwise gave away no other emotion.

"Unit 01 has engaged the enemy machine in combat." One of the officers reported. A-Drei gave a nod. "Observe the situation and keep up your report." The prince glanced at his friend, who looked impassively at the screen. Unit 01 was on its own, as Unit 03 and Unit 04 had their hands full dealing with the rest of the enemy forces. It boiled down to a test of the pilots' skills, both Haruto's and the enemy's.

L-Elf's eyes narrowed at seeing green light emit from the enemy robot. Runes… the enemy pilot was a Magius, and one who knew how to use the light of the Runes well. Haruto was immediately put at a disadvantage as the enemy created shields and fired beams, rendering any projectile-based attack Haruto threw at the other machine useless. The only abilities Haruto knew how to use were to possess another body and to do transfers… and also to light signal flares. Needless to say, none of those abilities were useful in this context.

Haruto had to go close combat since ranged attacks were useless against the Rune-activated shields. He wasn't very good at that though, having been a student almost all his life and raised in a peaceful country like JIOR. L-Elf's fingers twitched even more at seeing Haruto's pathetic sword-fighting skills. If JIOR was going to modify these students to be able to pilot Valvraves, they should have given them intensive military training too. Weren't all the people at the port and even the teachers in school soldiers?

A-Drei noticed his unease, but didn't say anything as he continued watching L-Elf worriedly. L-Elf's hand clenched and unclenched, even as he took in deep breaths and tried to keep a cool head. He wouldn't have this dilemma if it had been him in the cockpit instead, as he was pretty confident that he would have made quick work of the enemy pilot, Magius or not. His stomach cramped painfully as he watched the enemy swing at Haruto's robot, raising death flags all around the brunette and nearly taking his head off, if not for a lucky dodge on Haruto's part. The enemy was pretty good at maneuvering away from the red unit before trying to hit him from the back, and he came dangerously close to actually destroying Unit 01 when he stabbed the robot just inches away from the engine Pino resided in. L-Elf's fingers dug into the armrest, even as he gave a slight hiss of pain as the cramps built. He ignored the pains though. There had to be some kind of instruction he could give Tokishima Haruto to get him out of this mess. He couldn't afford to lose the brunette, or the whole Valvrave team's coordination would collapse. Weak as Haruto was, he was the glue that bound all the other pilots together, as they were all drawn to him for some strange reason, probably in the same way L-Elf did to him.

Focusing his full attention on the screen, he continued watching the battle, looking for weaknesses in the enemy's defense by monitoring his fighting habits. His persistence paid off as he spotted it. The guy wasn't Cain, and made blunders obvious to L-Elf's observation skills. Pressing a button, he connected the intercom to Haruto's cockpit. "Tokishima Haruto, you will do strictly as I tell you. When I give the signal, thrust your blade to the back, 3 inches away from your right."

Haruto wasn't good at fighting, but he wasn't bad at taking instructions. L-Elf held his breath as he continued watching a while longer. "Now!" He yelled. Unit 01 moved into action immediately, stabbing backwards in a similar manner to the hara-kiri blade and striking the enemy robot, which came to ambush him from the back again, dead in the chest, right where the engine was. Haruto disengaged from battle quickly, putting distance between them scant seconds before the other unit exploded. "Enemy unit defeated. Tokishima Haruto, rejoining battle formation." The pilot reported.

Relief was short lived for those at base, for A-Drei noticed that L-Elf had doubled over, clutching his stomach. He yelled for his men to quickly escort the silver-haired teen to the medical bay. L-Elf didn't make a sound, and on screen, Haruto was still none the wiser about what his partner was going through.

With the defeat of the forces in space, Kriemhild moved swiftly to apprehend the pilot of the Phantom Ship, and rescue human survivors who were used for Rune extraction. Both she and X-Eins' forces dealt with clean-up duty, while the Valvraves returned to base for docking.

The minute Haruto got out of the robot, however, A-Drei informed him of the situation, and the brunette took off at a run, making a beeline for the medical bay. "L-Elf!" He yelled out the silver-haired tactician's name.

L-Elf lay on one of the beds with his eyes closed. He opened them the minute he heard his name, and watched as a panicky Haruto entered the room. "You've completed your mission?"

"Is that the first thing you have to say?" Haruto studied him. From the looks of how L-Elf still had that mound in his stomach, he had not delivered the child yet. Breathing out in relief, he spoke up again. "You've scared me for a bit there."

A-Drei requested a report from the medic on duty. Apparently L-Elf had stress-induced contractions. The words hung between them for a while. A-Drei, of course, was the first to apologise to L-Elf for actually calling him out to base even though he was so heavily pregnant (or carrying). He then fiercely ordered Haruto to bring L-Elf home and make sure he stayed there.

The pilot was only more than happy to oblige, and once they were back, Haruto reached out, pulled his head down and kissed him. L-Elf gave him an impassive stare once the brunette released him. "What was that for?"

Haruto's blue eyes softened. "Those contractions… You were worried about me, L-Elf."

L-Elf looked unimpressed at those words. "You're flattering yourself too much, Tokishima Haruto." He said nothing when Haruto kissed him again.

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They could barely get a breather past that point, for after they foiled the extraction, skirmishes broke out around Dorssian territory. It wasn't a sign that Cain's forces were coming out of hiding yet, but L-Elf knew that they were preparing something huge. He had his suspicions for one of the possible hiding spots, and after writing a plan and passing it to A-Drei, he told Haruto to move out. Haruto was reluctant though, not wanting to leave him when he was that near his due date. L-Elf sighed. "You want to create a world safe enough for this child to be born in, don't you?" He asked, deliberately choosing words he knew had the best effect on this soft-hearted pilot.

That got Haruto moving. Once he and the other pilots launched off, L-Elf went to join A-Drei despite the prince's protests, and he watched the screen closely, even as one hand rested on the swell of his stomach. "How's it looking?" A-Drei asked him.

L-Elf breathed out and took a seat, wanting to get off his feet if possible. The boots were formal, but they weren't very easy on the feet for someone in his condition. "There will be at least two Magius this round. Cain's forces were secretly harvesting Runes in huge quantities, not so much for the purpose for survival as compared to the purpose of weaponry use. In the previous battle, we have seen robots which utilise a Magius' abilities to shield. The Valvraves are built based on something similar, but we are still at a disadvantage. If this is one of the bases, the best course of action is not destruction, but infiltration. We need to destroy it from within." He clenched his fist slightly. "If only I were able to head out."

"You're overworking yourself, L-Elf. You've already briefed Tokishima Haruto. Why not leave it to your lover?" A-Drei asked.

"He's not trained for combat or infiltration missions. Even though I put him as part of the plan, there is only a 30 percent chance of success. Just in case, I'm putting Inuzuka Kyuuma on standby." Personally, he thought that the pilot of Unit 05 was a lot more sensible than Tokishima Haruto, and more likely to increase the chances of success. He still allowed Tokishima Haruto to take the lead for this mission. The brunette needed the experience to grow less detached from reality.

His mission plan allowed for a small margin of error, but he predicted that the plan should be completed in about 3 hours, give or take half an hour. Still, when Yamada wandered off to engage the enemy in combat, he knew that the plan was going in a bad direction, especially when Haruto informed him that the enemy had sounded the alarm. L-Elf gave a sigh. It was time for Plan F-13 to be in effect.

"Tokishima Haruto. Have you memorized that route I gave you last Sunday?" He enquired. At receiving an affirmative answer, he continued on. "Abort Plan C-2 and proceed with Plan F-13." Haruto might break a bone or two with the plan, which required him jumping down at least 6 floors, but at least it would cut down time needed to reach the core of the base and blow it up. "You have 1 hour to get out of there after you've set up explosives. If you don't get out in time, you will be…Nnnh!" L-Elf's features twisted as ripping pain spread through his abdominal area. Judging from the strength of it, he knew that it wasn't exactly a drill like the one he had been having for weeks. This one was for real.

"_L-Elf?!" _Unsurprisingly, Haruto's eyes widened as he moved his face closer to the tiny screen on his communication device. _"What's wrong?"_

A-Drei wasn't helping matters. "He's bleeding! Get him to the medical wing! Now!" None of the soldiers could budge L-Elf though, not if he didn't want to leave the place. His own condition was not critical yet, but the mission was in danger of falling apart.

A surge of irritation ran through L-Elf despite the pain as Haruto went into a panic at realising what was going on back in base. The brunette started giving instructions to the other pilots as he actually had the nerve to go against L-Elf's plan and run in the opposite direction with the full intention of returning to L-Elf's side. "Tokishima Haruto! There is no time to waste! Stick to the plan!"

"_There is no way I'm leaving you to give birth to our child alone!"_ Haruto protested.

"You won't make it back in time anyway. Just stick to the plan, Tokishima Haruto." The frustrations were making the pain worse. When he could speak again, he ground the next line out with whatever strength he had left in him. "The best course of action for you is to complete the mission. You have your battle to fight, I have mine. Return alive, and then you can hold the child."

Haruto was about the say something, though Inuzuka connected through at that moment. _"Haruto, do as he says. Don't make the situation more difficult for him than it already is. We cannot allow this mission to fail. Also, could you do something about your lovey dovey talk through a public transmission? It's…a little embarrassing listening to this."_

Damn… why wasn't Inuzuka Kyuuma the pilot of Unit 01 instead. He could have had a more sensible lover…

Haruto seemed to have an internal struggle for a while, but he eventually turned and went back to carrying out the plan. _"L-Elf…wait for me. I'll come home soon."_ He ended the transmission and took the shortcut, leaping off the railing. L-Elf knew that the brunette was going to be in quite a bit of pain when he landed. It was only fitting, considering what he was putting him through.

L-Elf turned to A-Drei. "The mission should end in another 2 hours. I will leave command to you..." He barely managed to finish his words when his friend all but had him wheeled off to the medical bay.

XXXXXX

"Are you all right, L-Elf?" A-Drei asked for the seventh time. His friend was genuinely concerned for him, but L-Elf was too busy musing that A-Drei had gotten really soft during the months of peace if he was ditching his duties to be there in the medical wing with him. The prince held out a hand. "Here, use me for support. This really isn't the time for you to act tough." L-Elf didn't take it. He didn't need it, though he did fist the bed sheets a little when the cramps really set in.

L-Elf offered no resistance as he lay there while a team of surgeons worked on him. His expression betrayed only the slightest hint of pain when the baby struggled again, and when they gave him the spinal block (even though they have also given him anesthesia to numb the pain beforehand). As far as he knew, the kid was implanted in his abdominal cavity by that guide programme girl, and he had his suspicions that it might have put a foot through something during its struggles to be born, which caused the bleeding. He could only hope it didn't kick anything of importance. He had requested for the transmission of mission updates to still be played, just so that he could know if everything was going well. That, and he'd gladly be visualizing the battle than see what the surgeons were doing.

L-Elf was numbed for the whole procedure, and while listening to Haruto and the others give harried instructions to each other, the surgeons made the cut. There wasn't pain, but there was a bit of pressure as they worked on him. A-Drei looked a lot less composed, which gave L-Elf a rough idea of what the procedure looked like, and he wisely kept his gaze fixed to the ceiling.

"_Charges set! Let's get out of here!"_ He heard Haruto yell, and he knew that it was a race against the clock to get out of the enemy base. There were at least 12 different scenarios the artificial Magius could encounter on their way out, and none of them were pleasant. He could only hope that no one slipped up this time. He wouldn't even think of what might happen if Haruto didn't make it. If Haruto didn't return to his side…

A loud, clear cry rang out, cutting off his train of thought. L-Elf blinked, then exhaled in surprise. He didn't even realise that the procedure was over, or that the child was already taken out of him. He tried to glance over, though A-Drei held him down, indicating that the procedure wasn't quite over yet, and that the sound was merely the child taking its first breath. One of the surgeons eased the child out of him, and L-Elf remained unmoving as a couple of them took the newborn away to weigh it and record its details. The rest of the surgeons worked on fixing the damage to his abdominal area. When he was patched up, they finally brought the newborn over and held it out to him.

A-Drei's eyes went wide and he breathed out an amazed "Wow". Both he and L-Elf had never seen newborns before. L-Elf didn't make a sound, for a newborn wasn't exactly that pretty, and wasn't worth exclaiming over. L-Elf studied the child. For all his talk about carrying a monster, this child looked absolutely human to him, even as it flailed its arms weakly and continued to wail, toothless gums visible as the tiny little mouth opened and closed, chest heaving and drawing in air. L-Elf swallowed thickly and reached out, taking the newborn into his arms. When he really took a good look at the child, however, his eyes narrowed…

XXX

Pounding feet echoed through the halls as Haruto ran towards the medical bay. He tripped, skidded around a corner and continued running. The soldiers dodged quickly out of the way, allowing him to rush past them.

He threw the door to the ward open. "L-Elf! Are you all right? Is she born?"

L-Elf was resting, eyes closed as he recovered from the surgery. He opened his eyes and looked over at Haruto, who noted the exhaustion in his face. A tightly swaddled bundle lay unmoving next to the silver-haired teen, and Haruto found himself unable to look away, his chest tight as if he suddenly forgot how to breathe.

"The mission was supposed to end an hour ago. You're late. The only reason for that would be you went to the aid of Rukino Saki, even though she had her own escape route." L-Elf spoke wearily.

Haruto flushed slightly. "There is no way I can leave any of my friends behind! The roof collapsed on her!" He took a step forward. "More importantly, Lieselotte…"

L-Elf turned to the bundle next to him. "… No …" There was a slightly bitter edge to his voice.

That made Haruto freeze in mid-step. He stared at the bundle. "No?" He repeated numbly. The child… it couldn't be… it didn't make it? There does seem to be a lack of movement…

L-Elf moved, hissing a little in pain as he did so, and reached out with a hand. Haruto winced at seeing the IV drips connected to his other arm. L-Elf slowly undid the towel wrapped around the newborn's form, allowing Haruto to have a better look at it.

Haruto blinked, then gasped.

L-Elf turned back to Haruto, even as he continued being a picture of calmness. "It's a boy."

**To be continued…**

A/N: And that's it for Chapter 3. Please do drop me a comment if I made mistakes in the chapter, or if there is any part of the plot which looks unclear.

You could probably tell that I'm being random with the coordinates there. XD

If anyone was hoping for a more dramatic birth scene…I apologise, but I can't quite picture it considering how L-Elf was super cool even when he was totally getting shot at (during his rescue of Lieselotte in the anime).

I suppose if there is a birth scene, it might go something along these lines… (Beware of crack)

A-Drei: Gyaaa! L-Elf! Are you all right, L-Elf…?!

L-Elf: …

Haruto: I'm heading right back!

L-Elf: Don't you dare…

Haruto: Too late. I'm already right here. You know I tend to not follow your plans sometimes, darling. Does it hurt? You may use me to relieve the pain.

L-Elf: … *gunshot*

A-Drei: Gyaaa! There is a pilot bleeding out on the floor here! So much blood in this ward!

L-Elf: *calmly pushes* …oh, it's out… *holds baby*

A-Drei: I guess it's a happy ending then. Yay!

Haruto: *still bleeding out on the floor* Urm…help?

Director: Cut! Screw this! We're going with a C-section next time!

In the meantime…

**Please Read and Review. No Flames Please.**

**-Gwyn86**

EDIT (6 February 2013): As thanks to several reviewers, I will be putting up an extra for the birth scene (a serious one, this time)

Take note that this is not going to be taken as part of the fic. It's merely a "what if" scenario.

I'll be writing based on the following what-ifs:

1. L-Elf didn't go through a C-Section, but a(n un)natural delivery instead

2. Haruto actually made it back in time to see at least a part of the birth

3. L-Elf isn't such an ultra tsundere. XD

Please read on ONLY if you can stomach MPREG birth scenes. Otherwise, I still do appreciate a review for the earlier parts of the chapter. Extra starts after the page break.

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**CHAPTER EXTRA**

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"Blood pressure?" - "Normal"

"Heart rate?" – "Normal"

"Breathing rate?" – "Normal"

"Fetal heart rate?" – "Normal"

A-Drei looked worriedly at his friend, who hadn't made a sound after he was brought to the medical bay, even with the medics bustling about him. The silver-haired teen was lying on his side, gripping his pillow tightly. He knew that, for the most part, L-Elf kept a tight lid on most of his emotions. He could still tell that, despite the lack of reaction on L-Elf's part, his friend was in pain, especially judging from the way L-Elf took in deep breaths before exhaling, a sign that he was trying to cope with it.

If the circumstances had allowed, there was no way A-Drei would let his friend go through this, or at least not here. L-Elf was a Regent, and his child too would be of royal blood. He was supposed to deliver his child in a comfortable, fully-equipped place, not a simple ward connected to the military base, tended to by medics instead of maternity specialists. L-Elf wasn't complaining though. On the contrary, he had been the one who insisted on being brought there, just in case they needed his assistance again for the mission.

The medics tending to him said that he had actually gone into the active phase of labour while he was still in the control room, and speculated that he was actually in a lot of pain when he was giving instructions to the strike team. He looked at his quieter-than-usual friend, who still had his back to everyone, with his shoulders hunched over, and gave an irritated sigh and shook his head. "Why do you always try to do everything by yourself?" The prince grumbled.

His stubborn friend gave a soft huff. "It's for the sake of the highest rate of success for the mission." He shifted on the bed and gave a stifled groan. "I want this-" a soft hiss escaped his lips before he continued, "-out of me!"

"That's…your mission now," A-Drei winced when his friend groaned. They used to help each other out during missions, having been trained from their days in the Academy to take care of severe injuries, even life threatening ones, and to prevent each other from bleeding themselves to death. This was completely out of his training though.

L-Elf gripped the sheets. When the next pang passed, he opened his eyes and asked abruptly. "Where is…Tokishima Haruto? What is his status now?"

A-Drei smiled. L-Elf was worried. Of course the silver-haired couldn't see the prince's expression since his back was to him. "Their mission is complete. They're on their way back."

L-Elf nodded slightly in acknowledgement of the report before shifting again, groaning at another drawn out contraction. It hurt more than any other injury he had ever encountered before. Even a bullet to the stomach paled in comparison to this. "I'm going to kill that guy when he gets back…" He muttered.

Pino was definitely on his list of least likeable Magius, in a different sort of way compared to Cain. To think she took all that liberty to toy with his body, even going as far as to create a way for his body to expel the parasite. It wasn't as convenient as a woman's, but enough to get the job done.

The child shifted abruptly, catching him unaware while he was still busy with a dark train of thought. He cried out despite himself, causing A-Drei to worry and fuss over him. "L-Elf, are you all right?" The prince asked.

_Oh definitely, this whole experience was total peaches and sunshine… Thanks for asking, by the way..._

"Do I look all right to you?" L-Elf bit out. Muttering under his breath about misbehaving Magius and brunettes who couldn't keep their desires in their pants, he shifted, trying to find a position that may lessen even an iota of the pain. A-Drei knew that he was not very successful in that mission when L-Elf kept shifting around.

With the exception of the medics tending to L-Elf whispering to each other about the Regent's progress, and L-Elf's sounds of discomfort, there was little sound as conversation was minimal between the two friends past that point. L-Elf continued to suffer, and aside from repeating words of encouragement, A-Drei could do little else.

When the door to the ward slid open again, L-Elf groaned into his pillow, then opened weary eyes to glare at whoever was intruding into his personal space. His eyes widened when he saw Tokishima Haruto standing before him. "H-how…?" He asked, unable to form a full sentence.

Haruto, for once, wasn't being the idiot he usually was, as he seemingly guessed what the silver-haired teen wanted to say. "The rest gave me all their cooling fins. The speed was more than what Pino can usually take, but I did promise that I'll never leave you to deal with this alone." He took L-Elf's hand. "I intend to keep that promise."

L-Elf groaned at the naïve words coming from the brunette's lips. "There is – nnh – nothing you can do – argh!" He tensed, his body straining as he felt the sudden urge to push.

Haruto's eyebrows knitted at the sound of pain rarely heard from the usually controlled Dorssian. He continued holding his lover's hand and turned to the medic. "I want to do something…anything…but I don't know what to do…" He admitted aloud.

The medic monitored L-Elf's progress. "Help him sit up. Also, rub his back to try to ease some of the pain." Haruto obeyed immediately. L-Elf slumped against him, too weakened from the pain to actually shove him away. "You suck at this…" he snarled weakly.

The medic held a towel between his parted legs. "Please push when I tell you to, your highness." A heartbeat later. "Now!"

L-Elf gave a pain-filled grunt and strained with all his might. He felt the breaching of something large leaving his body, and for a moment both uncertainty and fear clouded his purple orbs. This was unknown territory to him, and even he couldn't predict if he could complete this mission alive. He didn't fear death, but there would definitely be a huge damper to his plans if he wasn't part of any future equation because he didn't survive this experience.

The pressure built, to the point of being almost unbearable. A regular person would already be screaming profanities. L-Elf managed to keep his wits about him thanks to his years of military training, though he did feel traitorous tears gather in his eyes, as well as some wetness on his cheeks. He inhaled sharply, drawing in air and gathering his strength as he continued on with his task. Both Haruto and A-Drei continued to watch him closely, the former brushing L-Elf's silver hair, which was matted with sweat against his forehead, out of his face. The pressure lessened, and his mind supplied him with information that the head was out. Haruto noticed that too and continued muttering sweet, useless words to him.

When he felt another contraction, he grabbed Haruto's hand and bit down hard, drawing blood. He muffled his sounds against his stress reliever. It was Haruto who was yelping non-stop in pain instead. At transferring part of his suffering to the main culprit who put him in this condition in the first place, L-Elf felt sadistically better, and he pushed again. The shoulders of the newborn emerged, follow on by the rest of the baby, and the medic waiting on him eased the child out, wrapping it immediately in a towel.

There was a soft, choking sound, followed on by mewling, which grew steadily into the strong cries of a newborn baby. L-Elf exhaled, trying to recover from the effort. At that same moment, Haruto drew in a shaky breath at hearing his child. The child's carrier (or maternal parent, as far as the medics were concerned) loosened his death grip on Haruto's arm. The injuries on the artificial Magius' hand healed instantly. Haruto walked over to the medics when they were done recording the child's birth data, and reached out eagerly, taking the newborn into his arms.

There was a myriad of emotions on the brunette's face, both delight and uncertainty, as he tried to process the idea of being a new parent. L-Elf raised a hand. "Let me see her." He commanded, his tone lacking its usual strength.

Haruto obeyed, walking closer to L-Elf, though he did not pass the child to him yet. "L-Elf…we uh… we have a son…" His voice sounded tense.

L-Elf froze, his mind not quite sure as to how he should take that news. After a moment, with Haruto holding the baby in a protective gesture in case L-Elf showed signs of rejecting their son, L-Elf sighed. "Tokishima Haruto. I am not such a monster that I would harm a defenseless newborn." He held out his hands again. "Let me hold her…him…"

Haruto watched his expression closely, though he could not read him, as usual. He made a decision to trust L-Elf, passing the child over to his other parent. L-Elf instinctively held the child close, calming him. The baby dropped off to sleep in his arms, watched over by both new parents. L-Elf stroked a soft, warm cheek. Looking up, he met Haruto's gaze, and at meeting his eyes, Haruto threw him a soft, grateful smile. Turning back to look at the baby, L-Elf decided to put his planning for his next step off till later. For now, he too could use a good rest.

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**END OF CHAPTER EXTRA**

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	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Valvrave the Liberator or any of its characters. I just own my feels after watching the last episode.**

**Warning: Yaoi fic. MPREG. Slightly AU from canon. Heavily implied smut scenes.**

**Rating: T for this chapter.**

**Pairing: Tokishima Haruto X L-Elf (Mikhail), L-Elf X Lieselotte. One-sided Haruto X Saki. Eventual one-sided Tokishima Haruto X Shoko.**

A/N: This is a fic born out of frustration from the last episode having tons of questions unanswered. I'll try to keep to canon as much as I can, but at some point the plot is going to deviate. Also, do take note that some chars who are supposed to die may not be dead.

**Guest**, ehehe. L-Elf still being really tsundere about a lot of things, so yeah, expect him to still be pretty bitter. Satomi is the type who plans from the start to the end. He was the former student council president after all. XD

**Guest**, yeah, the prince looked totally like them. I imagined one of the scenes in the anime with him all dressed up like the Fuhrer (during Renboukouji's wedding), he was probably already pregnant at that time, and he had that sad smile on his face because he was picturing him and Haruto being the ones married if the latter were still alive. Sigh…it would be nice if someone could write that. XD

XXX

By the way, if any of you haven't done so yet, the previous chapter has been updated an extra birth scene (dedicated to reviewers, those who were hoping for something that wasn't a C-Section, and fellow MPREG pervs. Kekekekeke.). If you are able to stomach it, do read and review. If you aren't, then please enjoy this chapter and do read and review. :p

This chapter was originally a lot longer (19 pages in Microsoft Word and still ongoing), but I've decided to separate them into two chapters, or goodness knows when I'm going to update. I'll try to get chapter 5 up in two weeks' time. It's the assignment period now though, so I'll be a little busy. I apologise for the delay in the update this round too.

To the story then…

**Friends With Benefits**

By: Gwynhafra86

Chapter 4

Even after A-Drei ordered the surgeons to leave, giving L-Elf some privacy to hold the newborn male child, the silver-haired tactician didn't quite know what to think of the situation. A-Drei didn't know what he seemed to be upset about, and L-Elf was not going to be enlightening him anytime soon. Minutes after the door closed behind the surgeons, L-Elf still didn't seem to be moving, and A-Drei left after promising to get a bottle for the baby.

L-Elf lay back and exhaled slightly, feeling suddenly weary. He'd ponder what his next plan past that point was going to be after Tokishima Haruto returned. For now, he'd do something about the child crying fiercely in his arms. As much of a hardened soldier as he was, even he wouldn't leave a newborn unattended, especially one he carried for months.

He held the baby boy in his left arm, the one with needles attached to it from an IV drip, and used his right hand to adjust the baby's towel, wrapping it tightly around the tiny form. He figured that instead of hunger, the baby was crying because it was cold. His guess was right, as the baby stopped crying and went to sleep almost immediately, his mood changing as fast as Haruto's did. L-Elf gave a soft huff of humourless laughter at that. The brat was quick to identify with at least one half of his parentage. He set the child to his right, put his right arm around him and held him to his side, as his common sense told him that newborns wouldn't be able to regulate their body temperature well. He needed to share his body heat with the child. Once that was done, he too closed his eyes. He had a lot of healing to do, mentally and physically.

At least now he understood why Lieselotte had laughed in his dreams. She knew that he was carrying a male child. It wasn't out of his calculations, since there was a 50 percent chance the child's gender could go either way, but he did not entertain the possibility during his months as a carrier. He wasn't too sure if he'd still be able to take that gamble and keep the child if he had known earlier that he was carrying a boy. Speaking of which, it was strange that he had been to a few checkups, but the doctor had never informed him of the child gender…

Oh wait…the doctor did try. L-Elf drew a blade after the oblivious doc kept calling him the child's "mother"…

…which brought him back to his current dilemma. L-Elf made his choice when he took the gamble and kept the kid, and now said product was sleeping next to him. He called himself a carrier…no…a former carrier. To the rest of the world, his status had a major update to that of a new _parent_.

There was a wrench thrown into his otherwise spotless plan there. For all his intelligence…he didn't know how to be a parent. He could not remember his own parents, as his most vivid memories were of his days in Karlstein Academy, and the constant bloodshed of others for his own sake of staying alive. The books said something about a how-to for dummies carrying out that unfortunate duty, but there was going to be something lacking during the raising of the child. He was pretty sure he knew enough, (and what he didn't know he'd make do along the way using his own common sense) to ensure the child's survival by attending to his basic needs. It was the affective aspect of parenting which he could not pick up, especially when dealing with a child who was half Haruto's and most likely to have emotional needs too. He highly doubted that Haruto, who had no cow sense whatsoever when facing enemies, would know anything about parenting either.

XXX

Coming back to when he revealed the child to Haruto, he observed the brunette's reaction now that reality was shown to his face - all healthy eight pounds of it. L-Elf could see Haruto's eyes widen, and knew that he too noticed the child's gender almost immediately. After a moment, Haruto took firm steps forward, resuming his walk towards the bed. He reached L-Elf's side and, at receiving no sign of resistance from the silver-haired teen, bent down and carefully slipped his hands under the newborn, picking him up and cradling him carefully. L-Elf observed with some curiosity as to what the JIOR-ian would do next.

The wide-eyed, silly expression on Haruto's face remained as the brunette continued staring at the child, taking in his features. After a while the look melted, as a wide smile made its way to his face. Haruto didn't seem to mind the child being male just as long as the child was born safely. He spoke up, his voice shaking with both happiness and pride. "Hello." He told the male child. L-Elf hoped he wasn't actually expecting an answer. Haruto continued on, and L-Elf tried to quash the ridiculousness of seeing his lover speak to a sleeping baby who was way too young to understand language. "I…I've wanted to meet you. I'm your daddy." The child squirmed a little in his hold, then went back to sleep in his human cradle. Haruto kissed the child on the forehead before walking over to L-Elf. "Thank you, L-Elf. For him. He's wonderful." There were tears gleaming in Haruto's blue eyes. L-Elf wondered if there was even a need to cry at seeing a newborn baby. Haruto had always been the sentimental half, but this time, he really did take the cake.

L-Elf had read up on what to expect of new parents, and what new parents' reactions were like. Haruto was demonstrating what he couldn't quite relate to himself. He was initially hoping that Haruto would be as lost at this as he was, just so that L-Elf could still remain one step ahead of him, but Haruto's natural take to parenting made him feel like he lost to the brunette in some way. At the very least, it confirmed L-Elf to be emotionally defective.

Haruto was very taken to his newborn son. L-Elf didn't know if this was yet another delayed reaction, or if the responsibility of being a parent hadn't fully sunken into that brunette's skull yet, but it did somehow spark a competitive streak in the Dorssian. There was no way he was going to allow someone so incompetent at most tasks to best him at this.

L-Elf had a lot of healing to do, and somehow both his lover, Haruto, and his closest friend, A-Drei, seemed to take it as if he had lost a limb, and treated him as if he were an invalid. A-Drei gave him the orders, as his superior, to remain on constant bed rest. Haruto came over frequently to hold the child, and also to enquire L-Elf's wellbeing. L-Elf tolerated him because he did bring a lot of news from outside, as well as JIOR-ian and Dorssian treats.

For the first two weeks of the child's life, L-Elf decided that since he had nothing better to do, he'd be the main person to care for the child. He needed to pass time anyway. To recover quicker, he had to move about occasionally, walking around the room but not out of the ward he was in. As he spent more time with the newborn, he found himself less irked by the idea of the child being male than he initially thought. He didn't know how this child would fit into his plans, but that was not happening anytime soon. There was nothing about the baby which resembled a monster. Granted, the Magius were beings of the soul (or at least that was what Haruto told him, quoting Lieselotte's words), and they took human form since they normally possessed a human host. It was only when they used those strange powers of theirs could they be told apart from humans. Another way was to physically injure them. Their rapid regeneration ability would give them away.

L-Elf did actually ponder that possibility. From his daily observation of the child, the baby was a picture of helplessness, probably unable to tell apart friends or foes as long as he had arms to cradle him. Mouth movements from the child produced no bursts of green energy, but rather endless, hungry cries. He was fully dependant on L-Elf for protection and nourishment, and just like any other human baby, it definitely wasn't _Runes_ he fed from his maternal parent. After a week and still no sign of the baby using any Magius ability, L-Elf picked up a small blade which Haruto left on his bedside table after cutting him some fruits, and debated using it to check for the child's regeneration abilities. It was the only way left to find out. The baby was sleeping next to him, completely defenseless, and at this point even if L-Elf did anything to him, he was pretty sure the baby was too young to remember it, or to have any lasting trauma from it.

He brought the blade closer, intending just to do a tiny prick on the baby's skin. The baby's tiny hands were clenched into fists, and when L-Elf used one of his own fingers to unclench the baby's fists, the baby shifted, then abruptly wrapped his whole hand around L-Elf's finger, gripping it tightly.

L-Elf froze, the hand holding the blade shaking slightly. He tried again, but found that he couldn't bring himself to harm the child, even if only a bit. When the baby moved again, the other hand dangerously close to grazing against the sharp part of the blade, L-Elf tossed the knife aside, out of the child's reach. He lay down and watched the child, who was still keeping his finger hostage in one small fist. Giving a soft huff, he thought that he was getting weak if he was actually allowing emotions to seep in. He should stop letting Haruto influence him. He blamed it on the hormones still lingering in his body and decided that it wouldn't hurt to have a bit of weakness now, at least until recovered his physical strength. Pulling the child closer to share his warmth, he closed his eyes and allowed himself to drift off to sleep.

XXXXXX

The reactions from Dorssians, JIOR-ians and ARUS citizens intensified once word spread about the hybrid child's birth. There were varying reactions again, both those fascinated and fearful. The Magius of Neo-Dorssia extended their congratulations to Haruto and L-Elf over the birth of their child, and while some humans shared their sentiments, the rest were a lot more sceptical, as they took their opinions to WIRED, spreading their fears and feelings of distaste to other users of WIRED, even those from Dorssia and ARUS. The former students of Sakimori Academy, especially friends of those killed when ARUS' soldiers opened fire in the school, were especially harsh in their comments, not liking how the Magius population increased. Months of being back with their families did nothing to decrease their hostility against Haruto, L-Elf and the newborn. They were direct in their demands to have the man-eating monster killed, especially now that it was still a baby and defenseless.

Well…maybe not that defenseless, considering who the kid had as a parent, one who remained with him 24/7. Still, when L-Elf refused all interviews and made no public appearance, the WIRED users figured that he was still physically weak and required time to recover. They weren't actually wrong. L-Elf was physically a lot weaker than his usual self, especially the first few days after the child was extracted from his body. Of course, security was heavy around the Regent during this period, but during the second week of the child's life, a spy did manage to infiltrate after impersonating a Dorssian officer. The guy somehow managed to sneak past security and even Tokishima Haruto, who usually lingered nearby, and made his way to the medical wing, even going all the way up to the sleeping parent and child's bedside.

When the man raised a blade, however, L-Elf's senses, honed from many years of battling for his own life, kicked in immediately. He woke and countered the man's attempt at killing his baby, but his movements weren't quick enough thanks to his weakened body. The intruder did manage to nick a tiny cut on the baby's arm. The newborn screamed with pain, and somehow the cries awakened a sort of rage in L-Elf he didn't realise he was capable of having. When the guards and Tokishima Haruto came rushing in at hearing the child's cries, they found the enemy spy lying dead at L-Elf's feet. The silver-haired had to be looked at by a medic right after that fight though, for he had reopened his stitches.

While the medic worked on him, Haruto picked up their son, cooing and trying to calm him. He continued speaking softly, at least until the baby hiccoughed and became quiet. The brunette inspected the child for injuries, looking pained when he spotted the cut on the baby's arm. L-Elf wasn't worried though. The child was half artificial-Magius. A cut like that was nothing to his regeneration abilities.

"L-Elf…" The tone Haruto used told him that something wasn't going according to his scenario though. The brunette walked over to him and showed him the baby's arm. "The cut…it isn't healing…"

His gamble was going a bad direction. The only two reasons he kept the child – for the possibility of being able to give it Lieselotte's name, and the possibility of using its abilities to turn the tide of war – were both out of the question. Perhaps the child was a lot more human than he initially predicted, or Haruto's abilities were non-transferable. As L-Elf watched the baby sleeping against his chest, a baby who had to heal the slow, human way, he realised that his plans were getting a lot harder to write out than he thought.

XXXXXXXXX

There was a drastic change after the attempted assassination of the Neo-Dorssian royal child failed – the people's attitude towards the baby in particular. Dorssian news reassured people that the baby was fine, and that it only had slight injuries from the attempt. Injuries, however, were an indication that he was only human. When he was first born, the child was treated with contempt by those who feared the Magius. Back then he was portrayed on WIRED as a little human-eating monster, but now the students changed their tune and finally saw him as the pink-cheeked, adorable baby he was. They spread their well-wishes to the child and his parents, or at least, the human one. A hype started after that, simply because the circumstances of the child's birth were extraordinary. The child was born from the union of two men, an Artificial Magius and human hybrid, and half JIOR-ian, half-Dorssian. It was not a common occurrence.

Just like the day when L-Elf first infiltrated JIOR, the students did not have qualms about sharing pictures which were supposed to be kept secret. As the hype over the child grew, they continued to display their absolute lack of common sense by spreading his pictures all over WIRED, and pictures of the baby's injured arm, taken by a crafty reporter when L-Elf was sedated after the surgery, went viral, even as students used it to justify exactly how human he was.

L-Elf was enraged. Once he recovered enough to smash his fist into the next reporter who tried to sneak up on the child, he gave strict orders for pictures of his baby to be taken off WIRED. Damn all these fools for revealing too much information about the child, and damn that Tokishima Haruto for being too soft to throw these people bodily out of the room.

Being completely oblivious to what they had done, these users then continued the hype with having their own Guess the Name contests. The organizers wrote in to L-Elf with the suggestion of having the winning name actually given to the child. L-Elf promptly turned that proposal into fireplace material. The issue of the child's name brought about another major fight, one which broke out into a slight war over WIRED - Should the child be given a JIOR-ian name or a Dorssian name? Was the child, by Nationality, JIOR-ian or Dorssian?

Then came the arguments. Silly, petty excuses to the child's parentage which made L-Elf's head pound because his level of intelligence could not comprehend it. The JIOR-ans, who once rejected their claim on the child, now wanted the child to be declared a JIOR-ian, simply because "the child's father is JIOR-ian". They seemed to have conveniently set aside the fact that he was also an Artificial Magius. A-Drei responded immediately to that claim, angrily protesting that L-Elf was the one who bore the child, so the child was Dorssian. L-Elf knew that A-Drei wouldn't back down so easily over this issue, since he was L-Elf's closest friend, and he was also there during the child's birth, and became just as attached to the baby as Haruto was.

It then came to a matter of looks. One side claimed that the child looked JIOR-ian. Another pointed out that JIOR-ian babies were born with a whole head full of hair, but this child was born bald, like a Dorssian. As the arguments got more ridiculous, Haruto, being the meek man he was, decided to keep mum over the topic and took neither side. L-Elf was the one who put his foot down, as he gave an official statement. "My son is neither JIOR-ian nor Dorssian. He was born in Neo-Dorssia, and therefore he will be officially a Neo-Dorssian citizen. If any of you dare to make another claim over my son, you will have to face me in one on one combat first."

After that statement was given, some WIRED users really did try to urge someone to take up the challenge, seemingly forgetting L-Elf's nickname. Some people, who were so brainless they made Yamada seem intelligent by comparison, actually turned up at Neo-Dorssia amidst cyber cheers from people who were too cowardly to face L-Elf themselves. L-Elf sent them home with some permanent bone restructuring, and ever since then no one else dared to try. The issue was resolved…_peacefully_.

There was still another issue at hand though. The child's name. It did seem strange that even after slightly over two weeks since the child was born, there was no official record on the child's name, almost as if he didn't have one. L-Elf had been pushing off the task of naming him, but knew that he could no longer delay it. He received word from one of his men that President Sashinami, having obviously been pressured by her people, would be paying him a visit sometime soon to discuss the child's name. From his calculations, he knew that she would not approach him directly, but would instead approach her longtime childhood friend, the child's other parent who had equal naming rights. He also knew that Haruto, who had a major soft spot for her even though he swore fidelity to L-Elf as his lover, would give in to whatever request she made.

The next time Haruto dropped by to hold their son and bring treats for L-Elf, the Dorssian posed the question of naming the child, which floored Haruto on the spot. Haruto, being the big ball of emotions he was, had been very careful to not bring up the topic, being ever wary of L-Elf's reaction if he did. He didn't expect the silver-haired Dorssian to bring the sensitive topic up first. He met L-Elf's gaze and knew that he couldn't avoid the question any further, and nodded understandingly. Haruto kept his hold on the baby steady, even though his courage looked close to crumbling under L-Elf's stare. L-Elf remained expressionless, waiting for Haruto to voice the topic. Haruto cleared his throat. "So…about the name for our son…" L-Elf's eyes narrowed. Haruto gave a cough and tried again. "…I mean for the child…do you have one in mind?"

From Haruto's expression right after he said that, he seemed to be regretting it as he had asked something obviously stupid. L-Elf thought so too, and couldn't resist rubbing it in further. "I _had_ one in mind." He replied flatly.

"Oh." Haruto responded awkwardly. The discussion instantly died there. It was the perfect reflection of their personal lives together though. If it wasn't related to work, or if they weren't joining their bodies, they shared barely anything in common, and didn't know how to work around each other. It was all a matter of arrangements, and compromise on both sides. The strongest link between them was the one now sleeping in Haruto's arms.

One of Haruto's strengths, however, was that he did not succumb to shame or embarrassment easily. He eventually tried restarting the conversation, as he set the baby down on the bed and looked L-Elf in the eye. L-Elf picked up the message immediately. Whatever he was going to say next might anger the Dorssian, and he didn't want to be holding the baby if it did turn out into a fistfight. "L-Elf…just hear me out a bit here…" When L-Elf showed no sign of aggression, he continued on. "I'd like to name our son…Mikhail…"

The glare L-Elf gave him in response to that looked like it could kill him, immortal or otherwise. "You do not have the right to call that name. Only one person was allowed to say it, and she's gone." L-Elf spoke coldly.

Haruto held up his hands, a gesture for surrender in Dorssian body language, and also to pacify someone in JIOR-ian body language. "Just…just hear me out. You wanted to give the name of the person you loved most to this child, and let the child live on her behalf. I too…share that feeling." Haruto turned blue, sincere eyes to L-Elf, causing the latter to shift uncomfortably. "I…still may not know what you have gone through, but even I could tell that you have had a hard life. You had to have your name taken away, and you were given the code L-11, L-Elf to live with. The past cannot be undone, but I'd like the child to walk on and live a happy life in your stead by bearing your former name…"

L-Elf frowned. Haruto probably thought he'd be touched or delighted to have someone live on his behalf. "Again with your sentimental talk. He may carry my former name, but he's not me. He lives his own life, I live mine." He paused for a while. "You're right. The name _Mikhail_ has no association with me." Not since Lieselotte died. "Do whatever you want with it."

An expression of pain filled Haruto's face. L-Elf's response was definitely not the reaction the brunette was hoping to coax out of him. The brunette turned away, and somehow L-Elf felt a slight stab of guilt eat him. The Dorssian knew that he was taking his bitterness out on his lover. Taking in a few deep breaths, L-Elf spoke up again. "I apologise… Haruto. It's fine if…you want to name the child Mikhail."

Haruto brightened almost immediately. He picked the child up again and cradled him. "Mikhail…" He tested the name. The way he said it with his JIOR-ian tongue, pronouncing the name in a manner that sounded like Mee-Hah-Eeruu, made a shiver run down L-Elf's spine. Haruto rocked the baby and smiled. "Mikhail." He called again with more confidence, but caused another shiver again. L-Elf decided that disassociating himself with the name was the right thing to do.

Haruto kissed the child on the forehead, a gesture he seemed to do often, and which L-Elf figured was something related to parental affection. He then turned to L-Elf. "Urm…then about his surname…"

L-Elf pondered the question. Of course, being the parent who was put through more hell during the carrying and delivery of the child, he had better rights to give the child a surname. He immediately vetoed the idea of having the child take Haruto's surname. They weren't registered on paper or bound by any official document. He was not obliged to give the baby his sire's surname.

"Maybe…Karlstein? It's your…" Haruto didn't finish his words when a fist landed heavily on the table.

L-Elf's voice was dead serious when he spoke up. "You shall not bring up that name ever again…or even suggest that the child take it… Do you understand, Tokishima Haruto?" Memories of children fighting children, of the smell of gunpowder and blood, of fear and pain filled his mind. While he was grateful to bear the name Karlstein, a symbol of his strength to have survived and graduated from it, he'd rather have his plans go up in smoke all at once than give his own son such a cursed name.

Haruto frowned, staring at his expression closely in an attempt to read him. He wasn't very successful. L-Elf was long trained to school his expression after all. With a sigh, he continued rocking Mikhail. "We could come up with a surname for him later. He's our light, so it would be good if we chose a suitable name for him."

L-Elf was about to agree, but something Haruto said caught his attention. It was a word long lost to him ever since his own died, and one he had almost forgotten…until now. "Licht."

Haruto blinked. L-Elf turned to the child. "Mikhail Licht. That will be his name." Through his son, all future generations of Neo-Dorssian royalty too would carry "light" in their names. Haruto nodded, then smiled in agreement.

Shortly after little Mikhail finally had a name, the JIOR-ian former students of Sakimori Academy who were with them in Neo-Dorssia joked of being possibly named the child's grandparents. L-Elf mused that it was probably yet another practice he was not aware of, especially noting the discomfort with which Haruto turned them down. He was probably being disrespectful in JIOR-ian culture.

He even snuck up on Haruto and Rukino Saki talking, with the latter having her arms crossed under her ample breasts, as usual. "I am glad that I turned down your proposal after all, what with you being such a disloyal man. Shortly after you proposed to me, you hooked up with L-Elf instead."

Haruto had the decency to look embarrassed at that. "…I'm sorry." He mumbled.

Saki gave a slight huff and tapped him playfully on the arm. "Well then. To make up for it, you'll name me Mikhail's godmother then."

Haruto seemed flustered at that. "I…I'll have to discuss this with L-Elf first."

Saki raised an eyebrow and sounded exasperated. "Haa? You have to get his permission for everything you do? Are you stupid? You sound like a whipped husband!"

Haruto merely laughed in response to that. L-Elf personally didn't think naming some of them as Mikhail's godparents was a big deal, and didn't know what kind of dilemma was going on in that brunette head of Haruto's. Days later, after ordering Haruto to gather the pilots, he announced to them that he was making them an offer to be Mikhail's godparents, an offer they all accepted. Saki seemed a little upset, but she masked it well. She probably wanted _Haruto_ to be the one to make that offer.

As for the non-pilots, he made the same request to Renboukouji Satomi, who was highly useful to him during his plans to bring revolution to Dorssia, and also to A-Drei, his best friend. Satomi kept bowing to him in response, being extremely honoured to be named a godparent of the royal child. A-Drei was so happy that he wouldn't stop shaking L-Elf's hand until at least five minutes later.

To everyone else, it was a great honour to be named godparents of the royal Neo-Dorssian child. Their happiness was contagious, as even L-Elf found himself pleased after evaluating his decision.

Babysitters for Mikhail acquired.

To be continued…

**To be continued…**

A/N: With that, chapter 4's done. Do tell me what you think of it. (Ehehe~)

I was debating over the German spelling "Michael" or Russian spelling "Mikhail". I've decided to go with the Russian one. The German one looks too…English. XD. Mikhail sounds more foreign to me.

Was Mikhail (the kid) bottle-fed or breastfed? I'll leave that to your imagination as I've included hints which could be taken both ways, so feel free to picture it according to your (coughpreferredkinkcough) own preference. L-Elf's personality does allow for both possibilities – his pride as a man and a soldier may make him reach for the bottle, but his preference for being quick and practical may make him seek out…whatever resources are available at hand. Ahem.

I apologise if this fic sounds extremely biased against JIOR-ians (and an apology to those who do like JIOR). It's just an impression I have towards them after watching both seasons, what with their spam of almost any kind of opinion on WIRED. Think episode 1, when they revealed the Valvrave pilot and shared his pictures (and immediately added him on their friends' list). Plus one moment they're "Tokishima-kun, save us!" and next moment they're "Tokishima has returned! Oh no! Don't let monsters on this ship!" They make all the noise while someone else does the fighting. (Which, come to think of it, is a realistic portrayal of the Internet. XD)

**Please Read and Review. No Flames Please.**

**-Gwyn86**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own Valvrave the Liberator or any of its characters. I just own my feels after watching the last episode.**

**Warning: Yaoi fic. MPREG. Slightly AU from canon. Heavily implied smut scenes.**

**Rating: T for this chapter.**

**Pairing: Tokishima Haruto X L-Elf (Mikhail), L-Elf X Lieselotte. One-sided Haruto X Saki. Eventual one-sided Tokishima Haruto X Shoko. Possible A-Drei X Saki**

A/N: This is a fic born out of frustration from the last episode having tons of questions unanswered. I'll try to keep to canon as much as I can, but at some point the plot is going to deviate. Also, do take note that some chars who are supposed to die may not be dead.

For a change, there will be some POV from Haruto. The fic's getting too bitter otherwise. XD

**Maryruss**, thank you. :D . Well, the kid is definitely cute, but then again, who could resist a chibi EruErufu. I am eternally grateful to Sunrise for actually showing the kid up close in episode 15 (Oh those pretty blue eyes…). Here's an update for you.

**Oyuu**, you shouldn't be reading my fic. You're too young for this (although you're not). Sob sob. I am so totally toning down on the smut content (jk)… :p . Thanks for the review~

I wanted to update this yesterday, but eh…I had a guest staying over, and there was no way I'd have this Microsoft Word document open when that happened. This is totally not safe for innocent eyes. Still an early update though, so do enjoy.

Just a word of warning, but…eh…there is a slight chance updates may be slow. Work is pouring in (and with it, a lot of pressure), and plot-based stories are rather stressful to write. I have a habit of rewriting scenes repeatedly when they don't quite come out the way I want them to, and that gets frustrating. Sometimes I do wonder if all that effort is even appreciated… *mumble mumble*

A big thanks to reviewers for helping to keep me sane, because frankly speaking, it's always a delight to read your thoughts on each chapter, plus it helps me see if my story is on track.

To the story then…

**Friends With Benefits**

By: Gwynhafra86

Chapter 5

L-Elf, during the whole period of caring for Mikhail, watched the child grow, and when the child finally started opening his eyes for real, L-Elf found himself staring at them. The child's eyes were blue, and of the same shape and colour as Tokishima Haruto's.

He threw a side-glance at Haruto, who was cooing over the child as usual. If Haruto noticed the similarity of the child's eyes with his, he didn't point it out, as he seemed to be more preoccupied with stroking the child's head. Mikhail was starting to grow out a fine head of hair, of a colour so light, L-Elf didn't doubt it was inherited from him. He frowned at the slightly smitten expression on Haruto's face as he continued running his fingers through the soft strands of hair. Haruto looked up and smiled at L-Elf, though the Dorssian noticed that his line of sight seemed to be focused on his hair. He didn't doubt that Haruto was probably wondering if L-Elf's hair had the same softness Mikhail's did. The JIOR-ian never quite did have the guts to touch L-Elf's hair when the latter was fully awake. He normally did so sneakily when L-Elf was drifting off to sleep, or during sex.

The next time they shared a bed, L-Elf felt Haruto shift in the middle of the night, holding his breath the way a thief did with sneaky intentions. L-Elf let his breath remain regulated and steady, feigning sleep. He was pretty sure Haruto wouldn't notice his bluff. Haruto sat up and moved closer, invading his personal space. He heard a rustle as the brunette lifted a hand, then very carefully, with shaky fingers, touched L-Elf's hair. At some point, thinking that L-Elf was asleep, he got more courage to run his fingers through the silver locks. "It is just as soft..." Haruto muttered to himself. L-Elf didn't think he was particularly bringing about any inconvenience, and let him do as he liked. He did file the gesture for reference, just in case he needed to soothe his crying baby next time. It felt sort of relaxing.

So soothing, in fact, he ended up lulled to sleep for real, and didn't wake until well into the next morning, with Haruto's arms wrapped tightly around him. He wanted to knock the brunette out of bed, but decided that his lover was a lot less annoying if he remained asleep. He pried Haruto's hands off him, quietly slipped out of bed, put a shirt on and headed to Mikhail's bassinet. After feeding the child and burping him, he took a leaf out of Haruto's book and stroked his son's hair. It worked. Mikhail remained asleep for hours, keeping the rest of the day peaceful.

That was, until Haruto took him out of the bassinet to hold him again. L-Elf almost broke his pen the minute he heard Mikhail's cries. Damn that overly doting JIOR-ian.

XXXXXXXXX

When the child was a month old, the President of ARUS and JIOR came in person to meet him. From the amount of interest the President of ARUS showed the child, L-Elf knew that the baby had a lot of political weightage, and could turn favours to those who had their hands on him. President Sashinami was interested in the child for different reasons. Haruto, still seeing her as the childhood friend he had always been close to from young, took the child and laid him in her arms. L-Elf didn't miss the look of envy she threw his direction, though she snuffed it down quickly. She was a true politician now, masking her real intentions and thoughts easily with a smile which did not reach her eyes, and words which were filled with insincerity. Haruto was just too blind to notice it.

They didn't stay for long, fortunately. Once they were done with their visit, and after discussing what they knew about the current movement of Cain's forces, the rest were sent back. L-Elf loosened his collar and sighed slightly, drained just having to deal with them. He was not bad at political work, but he didn't like it. He preferred something more fieldwork related. Still, to protect the Magius in this country, he needed to be in a position of the highest power.

A soft thud made him open his eyes. Tokishima Haruto had set a cup of coffee on his table. Black and sugarless, just as he preferred it. "Thank you for your hard work, L-Elf." The brunette told him. He held Mikhail in the other arm, rocking the sleeping child gently. L-Elf had always wondered about that. With the exception of pacifying the child or feeding him, he had always thought it more practical to let the child sleep in his bassinet. The probability of him waking up and making a racket was a lot lower. He didn't know why Haruto seemed to think that the baby would suddenly disappear if he didn't hold him frequently.

L-Elf passed him a stack of notes. "These are the plans to counter the next attack. Have them memorized by tomorrow."

That, unsurprisingly, brought about instant protests from the brunette. L-Elf thought that his argument was pointless and ignored him, going back to look through the endless paperwork he had on his desk. Haruto sighed and hugged their son tighter. "You're getting even bitterer after you became Regent. Being confined to an office doesn't suit you. If you want to get out to the field on your own, why not get someone else to do the paperwork for you?"

"Don't state the obvious. Who else would be able to do my work? There is no one else to stand in." Or more like, no one else was as meticulous or flawless in scanning through everything and ensuring that there were no loopholes.

Haruto huffed. "You're L-Elf. You're frustratingly perfect at whipping out some kind of a plan. You would probably still be able to find someone who's good at paperwork. Knowing you, you'd maybe … I don't know … somehow bully Renboukouji-senpai into standing in for you."

The gears in L-Elf's head turned. Damn…even with the lack of common intelligence… Haruto had a point. Haruto was probably just grumbling as to how L-Elf was able to effortlessly manipulate all his pawns into doing his bidding without realising that he gave his lover an idea. Renboukouji Satomi really was more suited for paperwork compared to him. Already, L-Elf was mentally planning out Renboukouji Satomi's enslavement in the office. Of course, L-Elf wasn't going to point out Haruto's contribution to it.

"If you have time to complain, you could very well start work on your memorizing." L-Elf stated calmly. He threw a glance at Haruto. "Also, leave Mikhail here. You get distracted with him around."

The expression on Haruto's face looked as if L-Elf had just asked him to hack off an arm. He made a tortured sound, but obeyed anyway, transferring the baby to L-Elf's arm. "Just admit that you want to hold the child…" He grumbled.

L-Elf threw him a glare in response. Haruto held up his hands. "Fine, fine. I'll get going. On one condition though. I'm working here too."

L-Elf pondered the idea. It wasn't too bad, since he could keep an eye on Haruto and monitor his progress. The guy tended to fall asleep halfway sometimes. "Suits yourself." He replied flatly.

Haruto took the stack of notes, drew up a chair and sat right next to L-Elf, borrowing some of his table space. There was no more conversation between them. L-Elf did look up occasionally though, just to see if Haruto might have fallen asleep. The brunette didn't, as his eyes scanned through the lines written in L-Elf's strong, trained handwriting. He mouthed the plan quietly to himself, a habit he normally did which allowed him to memorise better. There were times his brow furrowed, probably trying to picture some of the scenarios L-Elf tried to explain in as simple words as he could to cater to someone of his level of intelligence.

L-Elf put his signature on yet another document and set it aside, on top of a neat, growing pile of papers. He mused that with all three of them being around the table like that, they did seem like a family. A farce, but a family all the same.

No sooner did that thought cross his mind when a wave of disgust followed. At himself, mainly. He too was getting sentimental from hanging out with Haruto and his fellow JIOR-ians too often. He frowned down at the document he was in the process of signing, and at the signature that was less neat compared to the others, glaring at the paper like it had offended him in some way. He threw a mental dart at the traitorous thought, pinning it to the back of his mind and keeping it there. He had no intentions to ponder over such nonsense again. With that, he regained his focus and went back to work, resolutely pretending that he hadn't noticed Haruto's glance at him.

XXXXXXXXX

Speaking of family, two months after L-Elf gave Renboukouji Satomi the order to take his place in the office, the latter announced that he was ready to begin the next phase of his life.

Satomi was getting married, to his longtime girlfriend Ninomiya Takahi, whom he had been courting in what he thought was a discreet manner. He was the only one who thought so, of course. Haruto came home one day with an invitation in hand and passed the card to L-Elf, who skimmed through it quickly, noting that he was invited as one of the V.I.P. due to his position. The brunette looked at him expectantly, curious over his answer. After some consideration, L-Elf instructed his lover to pass an affirmative reply to the to-be-wedded couple. Renboukouji Satomi had contributed greatly to his plans so far, and was a loyal subordinate…friend. L-Elf believed that a show of gratitude to the blonde would go a long way.

L-Elf put on his formal attire for the occasion, a simple black military outfit with a red sash crossing downwards from his right shoulder and ending at the left side of his waist, one which indicated his status as a member of royalty. Haruto put on his own formal attire, one made of silk, but customized in similar colours to his pilot outfit, and with a design regal enough to be worn in public if he were with his Dorssian partner. Their three month old baby son wore a light blue outfit befitting his rank as a prince. L-Elf figured that it was Mikhail's favourite colour, especially seeing how he always reached out for Haruto's eyes.

Haruto, as usual, couldn't keep his eyes off his partner when the latter dressed. L-Elf took one look at how Haruto put on his own ensemble, sighed and walked over, straightening the brunette's collar. The pilot did not go to formal functions often, and L-Elf would not embarrass himself by walking around with an untidy person.

"Stop staring." L-Elf eventually ordered, having grown tired of feeling Haruto's eyes on him.

The pilot flushed a little and averted his gaze. "You look…nice." He commented lamely. L-Elf didn't say anything to that, though as both made their way to the wedding, Haruto commented again. "I kind of miss seeing you in white though. You look better in that colour."

If there was a change in L-Elf's wardrobe much, much later to white outfits, it was definitely not because of Haruto's statement. L-Elf just wanted to standardise the colour of his formal outfits to that of Dorssian military outfits…and A-Drei's outfit as a Fuhrer. It definitely _did not_ have anything to do with Haruto's words.

Coming back to the wedding…

Satomi invited L-Elf, since the latter was his current superior, and also of the ruling family in the country he was currently a citizen of. He invited L-Elf's closest friend, A-Drei, who fought alongside them. As a courtesy, he extended the invitation to Kriemhild, who was both L-Elf and A-Drei's former superior. The remaining seats were filled by the surviving students of Sakimori Academy (and whoever accepted the invitation were flown in from Dyson Sphere at least a day or two before the event), Satomi and Takahi's closest friends, as well as the Valvrave pilots. Takahi's parents attended, but not Satomi and Akira's. The Renboukouji older couple weren't exactly on speaking terms with their children, not since both failed to graduate from high school, and who had both run off to become permanent residents (and eventually citizens) of Neo-Dorssia. It was an embarrassment to their family, seeing their eldest married without so much as a high school certificate.

The most prominent guest from JIOR was, of course, Shoko. Both Satomi and Takahi bowed to her when she arrived, honoured by her presence. The young president went to greet L-Elf and A-Drei, as was her political duty. She wore a brown, frilly outfit, one which made L-Elf wonder if her wardrobe advisor had caught a cold and died off somewhere. A-Drei, in contrast, wore a blue formal outfit, of a design which was rapidly gaining popularity among ARUS men. L-Elf had to admit that his friend looked good in it.

Haruto, of course, lingered around his silver-haired partner, and he waved to his childhood friend with his free hand. Shoko's gaze drifted to his other arm, which held his and L-Elf's sleeping baby protectively. He went over to greet her warmly, completely oblivious to her uneasiness as he focused his topic of conversation on his son, gushing like the hopeless father he was. She returned his smile, one which L-Elf recognized as a mask for public appearances. L-Elf sighed. His partner was seriously dense to not notice her source of discomfort. He went up to the brunette. "Pass Mikhail to me. You may resume your conversation with Sashinami Shoko after that."

Haruto blinked, but did as he said and carefully transferred the sleeping infant to L-Elf's arms. L-Elf turned away and put some distance between them. He doubted Sashinami Shoko would come out of her politician shell if he lingered.

He continued holding Mikhail, though curiosity got the better of him, and he discreetly switched on the bug he had put on Haruto's outfit, eavesdropping on their conversation.

XXXXXX

Haruto's POV

It was a silent walk away from the crowd. Haruto glanced over at his usually cheerful childhood friend, then looked back and threw a glance at L-Elf, who was rocking Mikhail subconsciously. The Dorssian didn't act like it, but he was actually a good parent to their son. "You look well, Haruto." Shoko spoke up suddenly, and he turned his attention back to her.

Shoko was every bit like he remembered her, all sweet and selfless. That, and there seemed to be no improvement to her dress sense. There were some dark circles around her eyes though, covered with makeup, but not quite fooling his eyes. Already, he felt his heart go out to the childhood friend he loved (and still somewhat did), but had to give up after he became a monster, and after he made his resolve to be a proper lover to L-Elf instead. He knew that she had been working hard ever since she was formally named president of JIOR, even by citizens who were now free from Dorssian rule. He believed she deserved it, having earned it through hard work, though he did once get into a fight with L-Elf, who commented that the people most likely chose her because she was the daughter of the former president.

"So do you." He commented after a while. The silence fell between them. It was strange. Back then, whenever they hung out, she wouldn't stop chattering about her day, or about anything which could be a common topic between them. He was usually the one who listened, giving input whenever he had something to say too. If they did fall silent, it was due to the awkwardness of their feelings towards each other, or the possibility of a confession between them (if they ever managed to gather their courage. They never did).

Now, they were struggling to think of topics for conversation. His topics were all related to strategies and battles. Hers were all politics. Excluding the time she dropped by for a visit shortly after Mikhail's birth, and also when she last made a request for the JIOR-ians to return to space, when they last met each other face to face like that, they did not part on good terms. He lied to her by not revealing the secret of the Valvraves and their pilots, and even though he told her he would reveal the truth of the world to her, they hadn't resolved the tension between them. It did not help one bit that shortly after that, rumours of L-Elf's pregnancy were spread like wildfire on WIRED.

He knew she would bring the topic up sooner or later though. She looked up at him and smiled. "Are you currently happy, Haruto?"

Haruto returned the smile and nodded. "Yes. I am." There was peace among the Magius and humans, he had a place…no, a country to call home, and also he could return to his beloved son and also…

Haruto suddenly found himself having to put some effort into maintaining his smile. He wasn't fooling Shoko though. They have been together far too long for that. "You're not speaking the truth." Haruto could not refute her.

Silence fell again. "Is L-Elf treating you well?" She asked again.

Haruto hesitated for just the barest fraction of a moment. "He's all right." He finally replied.

Shoko frowned. "That doesn't answer my question." She retorted.

"It's not necessary." Haruto cut her off. He looked away. "L-Elf…he's got a lot on his mind right now."

Shoko looked at him, her gaze filled with a hint of sadness. "You love him, don't you?"

Haruto closed his eyes, even as he evaluated his feelings for the silver-haired Dorssian. After a while, he opened them. "I do…I guess. He's important to me." He sounded almost tortured at having to say the words aloud.

Shoko understood his pain. "But he doesn't feel the same." She stated the obvious.

Haruto looked absolutely broken at that. It was one thing knowing, and keeping it to himself. At least he could still escape reality by not thinking about it. It was another to have reality pointed out to his face. Sighing, he turned away. "…he's willing to stay with me. Also, he had my son. I'm not going to complain."

"Why, Haruto? This isn't like you at all!" Shoko finally couldn't keep calm about it anymore. She had always been vocal whenever she felt that someone was compromising Haruto's welfare. Already, some of the old Shoko was coming back.

Haruto shifted awkwardly. "I've done something unforgivable to him. It's only natural if he'd never have feelings for me. Still, I will take responsibility for my actions. I'll consider these one-sided feelings my punishment." L-Elf was a person who was far beyond Haruto's reach. There was too big a difference in their abilities and standings, and even in the looks department, L-Elf pulled far ahead of him. Haruto was a nobody, just a regular student struggling to get through classes, and one who had no ambition in life. For him to violate such a strong, untouchable young man…it was an act which would haunt him forever. Frankly speaking, there were times he could not quite understand L-Elf, who voiced out his dislike for Haruto all the time, but still remained with him. Still, if this was the only way he could possess the Dorssian, even if just physically, so be it.

Shoko sighed and held her head. "Haruto…you're still too easily manipulated. Why must you go through this? You do not need to maintain such a relationship if you are going to suffer from it. It's not like you're married or bound to him by contract."

Haruto gave a bitter smile and shook his head. "I have a promise to keep, Shoko. A promise with him."

Shoko seemed to want to say something, noticed the expression on his face and fiddled with the hems of her skirt with both hands. "I…I want to help you in some way."

Haruto gave a slight bow. "Thank you, Shoko. Your feelings are enough for me."

Shoko gazed at him, then took one step towards him, followed on by another. She was soon standing right before him, meeting his eyes directly. "…if we hadn't both been so stubborn…if we had been more honest with each other…things might have turned out differently."

Haruto stared back. His thoughts went to a silver-haired beauty. A very, very bitter, beautiful young man. "…Perhaps…" He admitted quietly.

XXXXXX

"Traitor against humanity! Enemy of the human race!"

L-Elf's attention was taken away from the conversation between Haruto and Shoko, as he found himself facing a young lady, one whose face would have been quite pretty, if she weren't directing such a look of hatred at him.

"Kitagawa Iori. It is good to meet you again." He responded with businesslike politeness. It wasn't easy, but he did manage to keep sarcasm out of his voice. Their last encounter was not pleasant in the slightest, as she had been the one who tried to deliver both he and Haruto into enemy hands. If he hadn't been in a slump that time, he could have knocked all their captors out easily and pointed out some common sense to the teenager. He missed the chance though, and she had, if anything, become an even bigger ball of hatred.

His left arm, which held Mikhail, tightened minutely around his son, holding the baby against his chest. The fingers of his other hand hovered lightly above where a small blade was hidden in his right pant leg. He knew that in nearly a year, Iori had, using a video of her father's death which she managed to get from the media, gathered anti-Magius supporters. What was initially a small group of protestors grew in size, and in no time it became a non-profit organisation supported mainly by like-minded sponsors. Iori became its founding chairperson, and videos of victims dying aboard the Phantom Ship from Rune drain were played daily in their headquarters just to remind them of the dangers of what the whole organisation dubbed as human-eating monsters. Her policy was the total opposite of his. He wanted the coexistence of Magius and humans. She wanted humanity to be free from any fear of getting their bodies possibly possessed by these monsters, and was still trying to convince JIOR-ains, Dorssians and ARUS citizens alike to aid her cause to eliminate all Magius, be it those from earth or Dyson Sphere. In fact, if it weren't for her friendship with her former student council president, she wouldn't have set foot on Neo-Dorssia's lands, the only place where the Magius were protected by the country's laws to be treated with respect and equality.

The look she directed at him at that moment was nothing compared to the look she threw Mikhail. If L-Elf left the baby unattended, she probably might be capable of smothering him with a pillow. Well, if she lunged at the child or tried anything funny right now, L-Elf would put a blade through her chest with the same accuracy with which she put a bullet through Haruto's.

Her face twisted further. "I never thought that you'd fall so low as to submit yourself to a monster, and to give birth to a soulless bastard like that!"

"I'd appreciate it if you do not use such language near my son." L-Elf responded calmly, not letting her get a rise out of him. His mind could not refute a part of what she said though. His son really was born out of wedlock. It didn't mean that he was going to allow anyone to degrade his son with such a term though, especially not to his face.

"I say whatever I want to! That thing is a monster!" Her hands balled into fists. "I'll never forgive Tokishima Haruto…he killed my father… I will never forgive you, or that bastard son of yours! I'll make sure that…"

"Do you really want to continue this conversation? I believe you have not forgotten the occasion. Do you want to ruin it for Renboukouji Satomi?" L-Elf spoke calmly, even as he recognised faint footsteps drawing closer. They belonged to the groom, most likely drawn by the sound of Iori shouting, and who was trying to investigate the commotion.

Iori threw him one last glare, then stormed off. Satomi emerged from around a corner moments later. "What was all that noise about, L-Elf?" He asked, sounding a little alarmed.

L-Elf gave a soft huff. "Nothing of importance." Just someone he had filed under the categories "easily influenced" and "spiteful". He'd still keep an eye on her though.

XXXXXX

The ceremony started shortly after that. Seating arrangements were straightforward. Immediate family members took the front row, on the right side of the aisle. V.I.P. also took the front row, but this time on the left. Everyone else sat in the remaining rows.

Shoko sat on Haruto's left, L-Elf on his right, and A-Drei sat on L-Elf's right. Baby Mikhail slumbered, completely oblivious to his surroundings, in his maternal parent's arms.

L-Elf hadn't said a word to Haruto after he returned with Shoko. When Haruto came back to his side earlier, the silver-haired Dorssian noticed a sort of awkwardness between the two childhood friends. He last saw the same behaviour when Haruto was trying to hide his feelings for Shoko the year before.

Everyone paid close attention when the service started. L-Elf remained expressionless and unaffected as the couple exchanged sappy vows - lip service which was easily broken, and a wedding contract wasn't going to change that. Haruto had an almost dreamy look in his eyes when they exchanged rings. L-Elf noticed the JIOR-ian stealing glances at him from time to time. When his glances became so obvious that even those of the next row were giving them funny looks, L-Elf lowered his voice, so that no one else could hear him except Haruto, and spoke threateningly. "If you even think of anything ridiculous, like try to propose marriage to me, I will punch you."

Haruto made an odd, choking sound and started coughing, effectively getting Shoko's attention. She rubbed his back, and when he got his breath back, he hissed back at L-Elf. "I…I wasn't particularly…thinking of that…" He looked away, obviously not wanting to be caught lying.

L-Elf kept his eyes on the Renboukouji couple ahead. Satomi looked shyly at Takahi, who held his arm firmly, grasping on to give him a cheeky, but confident smile. He gave a soft huff, unable to stop a wistful smile from making its way to his face. Perhaps, had things been different, it would have been him and Lieselotte standing there instead, with Lieselotte smiling shyly at him, and L-Elf making a fool of himself due to nerves from finally getting to marry her. A dream would always remain a dream though. He was painfully aware of the not-Lieselotte standing by his side, someone else who couldn't end up with the person he actually wanted to…

"Do whatever you want." L-Elf spoke abruptly.

Haruto stared at him at that. L-Elf didn't look at his lover. "You are not bound to me by contract, or by any agreement. What we have is purely a verbal promise, and our relationship is based on nothing but sex. You are free to do whatever you want. Be with Sashinami Shoko or whoever else you feel like sleeping with."

Haruto's jaw dropped. "Wha- where is this coming from, L-Elf… wait, were you eavesdropping on me? Why are you bringing up Shoko's name all of a sudden?"

L-Elf continued on calmly. "I do not see why you would have any objections to whatever I'm suggesting. You have feelings for her. Comparing your compatibility with Sashinami Shoko, in contrast to your feelings for me, the conclusion is…"

L-Elf didn't manage to finish his words, for Haruto had seized him by his collar and pulled him over. Their faces were mere inches away, their noses nearly touching. Up close, L-Elf mused that Haruto's glare was a little intimidating. He didn't know the brunette was actually capable of that. "Don't decide that for me, L-Elf! Are you trying to make light of my feelings? If you were eavesdropping on me then do so properly and listen to the end! I don't care about what you think of me, but I've told you that I want to be with you, and I have no intention of cheating on you!"

The silver-haired Dorssian narrowed his eyes. Haruto was too loud. In fact, the ceremony was temporarily halted from his outburst, as most people had their eyes on them, including the to-be-wedded couple. Takahi smacked her to-be-husband on the arm. "Satomi, I want a vow as passionate as that!"

If L-Elf didn't have his arms full of one sleeping Mikhail, he would also have socked Haruto upside the head. For now, he gave him a stare promising punishment once they went home. Haruto wasn't going to like it.

Satomi looked like he had been put in a spot, as was Haruto. Haruto realised quite belatedly that people around them were giggling. "Sit down." L-Elf ordered with quiet disapproval. Haruto mumbled an apology to those around him and sank further into his seat, as if wishing that it could swallow him. Shoko gaped at him, as did A-Drei. Saki raised an eyebrow. "Are you an idiot?" She huffed. Inuzuka gave a low whistle and thumped Haruto on the back. A few rows away, Iori narrowed her eyes at Haruto and looked like she wanted to gag. Amazingly, despite all the noise, Mikhail remained asleep.

The whispering around them continued for quite a bit, at least, until Takahi threw her bouquet of flowers. The unmarried girls gave a loud squeal and stretched their hands out, all eager to catch it. The elusive bouquet landed rather unceremoniously in A-Drei's hands, and he caught it out of reflex. It took a couple of heartbeats before he even realised he was holding it, and when he looked up, he found girls staring at him, their gazes varied from looking hopeful to looking as if he had just crushed their dreams. Kriemhild crossed her arms, and Saki tilted her head a little as she stared at him with raised eyebrows. L-Elf had to hide a smirk at seeing A-Drei gulp minutely under all that attention. He knew his friend fancied somebody, but would probably poke out his remaining eye than admit it.

A-Drei flushed. "Here! Since you girls want this so badly!" He tossed the bouquet again in a random direction, and this time it hit Saki in the chest before she managed to catch it. While that sparked a mini altercation between A-Drei and Saki, the rest of the girls applauded. The commotion finally woke Mikhail, who started crying. As one, almost as if they were trained to coordinate their moves, Haruto and L-Elf pacified their son, with Haruto softly hushing the baby, and L-Elf rocking him silently. Their gazes met for a while, though for a change, it was Haruto who turned away with a slightly angry glint in his blue eyes. L-Elf meant it exactly as he said it – that Haruto was free to be with Shoko, his longtime friend and love. Haruto, however, seemed to have taken the suggestion as an insult. The silver-haired Dorssian turned his attention back to his son, who was starting to calm down. He really could not understand JIOR-ian mentality after all.

His son's fussing got the attention of the young ladies present there. L-Elf wasn't too surprised that young ladies their age would show interest in babies around them, but were too afraid to approach him, having known his combat abilities firsthand back when they were in JIOR. Their eyes did not leave the tiny baby as they continued whispering to each other.

Takahi was the one who approached him first. "L-Elf…may I hold him?" She asked.

L-Elf had already foreseen the question coming. Takahi and Satomi went through the more proper steps of dating, then marriage. If everything followed the natural order, there would only be one mission which followed next. It wouldn't be a surprise for her to suddenly show strong interest in people smaller than the length of one's arm.

The silver-haired Dorssian did not have any problem with her holding his son though. From his observation, she was a fairly sensible person…sometimes. By extension to her marriage to Satomi, who was one of Mikhail's godfathers, she too was Mikhail's godmother.

Wordlessly, L-Elf passed the child over to her, and her eyes gleamed as she held the child awkwardly. Like Haruto, she cooed over the child, gushing over his looks (or cuteness, as she put it). It further confirmed his initial thoughts of JIOR-ians being generally soft towards children. Then again, they had all the peace in the world to be raised that way, or at least back then.

The girls inched over to poke and prod the baby once the child was out of L-Elf's hands, and some of the guys joined them too. Takahi wouldn't let the child leave her hands though, just as L-Elf didn't let them leave his sight. Mikhail, for the most part, did what normal babies did. He whimpered, cried weakly and threw everyone into a panic. L-Elf huffed softly and smirked as he watched the girls being all flustered and trying to calm him down. At some point, Satomi went to his wife's side and also tried to hush the baby. He only managed to make things worse, as the baby flailed his arms and continued wailing, struggling in his hold. Haruto, hearing Mikhail's cries, came over and immediately tried to calm the baby. Mikhail was fairly fussy though, especially if he got woken from his sleep, and even Haruto couldn't fully calm him. Child caring skills – Proficiency Level B.

At some point, Takahi figured to pass the child back to L-Elf, who held Mikhail tight against his chest and rocked him lightly. L-Elf always wondered about it, but somehow his son tended to sleep better if he was put next to someone's heartbeat, especially his. The girls made an "ooh" sound the minute the child became quiet and fell asleep, with his hands clenched tightly into fists. There were clicks from mobile phones, though after the last viral spread of his son's newborn pictures, and after he dealt with anyone who still had them posted around, he doubted they would have the guts to circulate pictures of the baby this time. They know very well what L-Elf could do to them.

The Dorssian could feel his partner's eyes on him as he held Mikhail. Looking up, he could see traces of affection in the brunette's blue gaze, some envy for being able to pacify Mikhail perfectly, and also lingering anger from their disagreement earlier. Haruto looked away again, reverting slightly to the childish teenager L-Elf remembered him to be from their first encounter. L-Elf turned away from him and instead focused his attention on Satomi. "So, the Virgo Islands, you said?"

Satomi blushed, as did Takahi. The blonde man rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "We've looked through some pamphlets and decided that, in terms of budget and distance, it would be a practical place for our honeymoon. We have wanted to visit the islands in ARUS. Of course, I'll be sure to come back to the office in a week…"

"Two weeks." L-Elf spoke calmly. The couple blinked at him. "You have two weeks off. Consider it my wedding present to the two of you." Satomi could go have his honeymoon and do whatever he had to do. He would need the break for now, for L-Elf was going to work him hard after he returned.

Since it was the wedding of the Regent's head representative, he and Takahi had a send-off in a military helicopter. Once the newly-wedded couple left the area, the excitement began to settle, and everyone made plans to head back home.

XXXXXXXXX

Haruto didn't speak to him the whole journey back, and even after they reached their joint residence, Haruto busied himself with putting Mikhail in the nursery. L-Elf wondered if he really did touch that big a nerve there. Still, it wouldn't do to not clear the air, especially with that very much still a teenager JIOR-ian. It might affect his performance. How troublesome…

He ordered for Haruto to come into his office. Haruto obeyed, though he remained unsmiling. L-Elf gestured to a chair placed opposite his, and after some hesitation, Haruto took a seat before him. He blinked when L-Elf pushed a cup over to him, one filled with coffee, specially sweetened.

Haruto took the cup and held it in his hands. "I'm still mad at you." He said bluntly before taking a gulp, his actions more aggressive than necessary.

L-Elf frowned. "I do not see why you should be. It was a logical deduction. You love Sashinami Shoko. You've always wanted to be with her. If you get together with her, you will be happier than in your current arrangement with me. You're with me out of your own personal sense of responsibility for having slept with me, and also because we have Mikhail. You forget that we are not bound together legally. You're free to do whatever you want. I merely pointed that out to you."

Haruto set the cup down on the table, using so much force that a dull 'thunk' could be heard. He looked up at L-Elf with his eyes narrowed. "For someone so intelligent, you could be quite dumb sometimes too." Before L-Elf could say anything to that, Haruto reached out and seized him by the front of his shirt. "I know very well that we're not bound in any way. If I could, I would already have done so. Only anything written in contracts has any value to you after all." Haruto gave a huff and a humourless laugh. It made L-Elf wonder where the naïve idiot went to and who this suddenly mature young man before him was. "You're right when you said repeatedly life does not always go as planned. I had no intention to attack you, and I definitely didn't plan on falling in love with you. It happened anyway, and the past is not going to change." Haruto's fingers were crinkling L-Elf's shirt at this point, but L-Elf didn't pull away. "I see you as family, L-Elf, even if you don't feel the same. Considering what kind of a life you have had, I don't blame you. Still, as you said, I am free to choose my own path. I will walk on the one with you by my side."

L-Elf frowned. "You love Sashinami Shoko-"

"Yeah, I still do." Haruto admitted, knowing that there was little point in hiding that since he could never fool L-Elf anyway. L-Elf had the strange urge to punch the table. "I choose not to be with her though. I have already missed that chance. It's you I'm with now, and I'm keeping it that way, no matter how painful that choice is going to be. I told you I have no intention on cheating on you. I will only feed from you, and I will only sleep with you, so stop being jealous of Shoko."

L-Elf's eyes flashed angrily. "Of all the most ridiculous lines to come out of your mouth…" His words were cut off when said mouth sealed his.

"You're too impossible sometimes, L-Elf, so just shut up." Haruto murmured before kissing him again.

At some point, Haruto moved over to his side of the table instead, and bent over to continue kissing his lover. There was quite a bit of frustration built on both sides, both from all the miscommunication and unresolved tension between them. The frustration exploded outwards as a rather angry make out session between the two, with Haruto pinning L-Elf to his chair, and L-Elf pulling quite unkindly at his hair. It wasn't so much a kiss at some point as a clash of tongue and teeth, with occasional painful bumping of noses. Had an outsider walked in, the poor soul might be confused by the scene, as to whether they were trying to actually kiss or fight. Probably both, if death by kissing could be a legal reason put down in either of their death certificates.

As their lips continued to connect, teeth clashing and nipping, skin broke, and blood flowed. Haruto's healed instantly, of course. A small bead of blood formed on L-Elf's lips, and Haruto, having let off most of his steam, licked at it, his gesture gentle and almost apologetic. The gasps and pants from both of them trying to catch their breaths slowed, and eventually they ended up on L-Elf's chair, with Haruto half on top of L-Elf's lap. It was an uncomfortable maneuver, a cramped one too, but they somehow managed.

The make out session did not develop further, even though L-Elf could clearly feel Haruto's desire prodding him in his thigh. Haruto merely held him, seemingly fully intending to prove yet some kind of ridiculous point by not penetrating him, be it his constant retorts of not wanting to treat L-Elf as a fuck buddy, or not merely wanting a physical relationship. Haruto didn't seem to care that he was totally disrupting L-Elf's work schedule by clinging on to him. For a change, L-Elf did not reject the physical contact between them. The silver-haired rather wished that Haruto had continued. He got the Dorssian in the mood with all that kissing earlier. His pride wouldn't allow him to admit it aloud though.

The minutes ticked by. L-Elf wasn't hard anymore as he got bored with Haruto just holding him, and his mind already wandered off to predictions and strategies. Whatever point Haruto was trying to make by just cuddling him was soon lost on the Dorssian. Only JIOR-ians could work with such indirect methods. For someone of L-Elf's upbringing, Haruto had to say it directly.

His mind was still in the process of formulating Plan G-22 when Haruto spoke up again. "L-Elf…"

"What is it?" L-Elf responded, temporarily setting Plan G-22 aside. His eyes met Haruto's, and instantly, he read Haruto's intentions even before the latter said it.

Haruto took one of his lover's hands, holding it lightly. The JIOR-ian swallowed slightly, a sign of nerves, but got his courage and continued on.

"Marry me."

**To be continued…**

A/N: I rewatched Haruto's first proposal scene to Rukino Saki when I wrote that, and that had been kind of sweet. This is anti-climatic compared to it, highly straightforward and very unromantic. XD. Well, difference between proposing to a girl and proposing to a guy.

I already have two possible scenarios planned past this chapter, depending on L-Elf's response to Haruto's proposal, an "aye" scenario, and a "nay" scenario, but outcome will depend **entirely** on your choice. To be fair, I'll do a tally for both scenarios and post the result at the start of the next chapter. Also, ones from private messages will not be counted (because I could very well bluff those numbers, since no one else can see them but me). So yeah, if you wish to see either an "aye" or "nay" scenario, then please do remember to mention them in your reviews.

Outfits for the wedding scene were written with some reference to the last episode of Valvrave. It's a little difficult to describe Shoko's. I think she probably wasn't the president anymore in that scene. There is no way she'd be running around in that if she were.

Rukino Saki's "baka ja nai?" is kind of hard to write out. As much as I'm tempted to actually write it in romaji, I think I'll try to find English equivalents for it. I don't think the feeling (tsundere-ness) is quite the same though. XD. If you think it's better that I maintain it in romaji, then please do mention it in your reviews.

When I first started plotting this fic, I wanted it to be super practical (which was why I didn't even file it under the category of romance.). Haruto and L-Elf have a physical relationship, and it remains there. Focus on plot and continuing where the anime left off instead of their relationship. Period. Reading through the chapters, I do realise that it's gearing more towards romance, in a HaruEru bittersweet (coffeesugar?) sort of way, if that makes any sense (because HaruEru fluffy scenes are addictive to write…). I apologise to those who were looking for more plot. It will gear back to the storyline again next chapter.

That, and my Haruto is severely out of character. The anime puts him as a non-thinking baka who makes all sorts of bad decisions and mistakes, unless L-Elf orders him to do something, and unless he doesn't disobey orders. The Haruto in my fic is a lot more patient and sensible. That's…so not Haruto. :p. I may maintain this version of Haruto though, but if you'd like me to bring him back in character, then do mention it. I'll see what I can do.

I'm not sure if my L-Elf is in char. XD

**Please Read and Review. No Flames Please.**

**-Gwyn86**


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